Chained Angel (A Deidara Love Story)
by goddamndamndamn
Summary: Does what it says on the tin, really. I don't own anything about Naruto, though.
1. Chapter 1

Deidara was hoping the mission would be interesting.

Lately he'd been getting missions that were just walking around, hitting someone here, dodging around someone there, and generally doing nothing at all. He wasn't asking for a major war-ending mission in which he'd have to do everything, but, you know, just something that had some fighting in it. Or at least somewhere that would allow him to experiment with his bombs. And as he thought about it, it actually seemed like a good basis for a mission. He'd do any amount of theory work to do with what they were searching for, as long as he got a place—and permission—to experiment with bombs.

But the result wasn't exactly what he'd been hoping for.

"It's a rune, but in a solid form. Most likely a necklace, bracelet, ring...that sort of thing. It's your job to find and get it, and then bring it back here. It's unknown how it truly works, but the powers are unlimited. Hence the fact we want it," Leader began, and Deidara was instantly suspicious, but waited to see if there was something in the mission that would salvage his sanity, and he remained hopeful.

Until Leader continued,

"The exact location is unknown, but it is generally accepted that it is in the area I'll tell you about in a minute. As the rune is surrounded by mystery, I doubt there'll be much competition for it, but I can't guarantee—"

Now Deidara couldn't hold it in any longer, and let out a groan which stopped Leader in his tracks. Sasori immediately rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what was coming, and Leader raised a half surprised and half irritated eyebrow at what he was about to say, hiding a sigh a few moments later as Deidara blurted out,

"Leader-sama, can't we have something more...exciting? Something where we can actually use our ninja abilities instead of walking all over, sitting around for nothing, then grabbing some rune and coming back. Because that _is_ what we'll be doing the entire mission, yeah."

"Deidara-san, I know it _is_ unusual, and with less fighting than normal, but not all missions are going to be like this, and we _need_ this rune. You'll be doing a lot of work. For all I know there _could_ be a ton of people trying to search for it, but I can't be certain. But you do need to be on your guard." Leader then explained, causing Deidara to sigh, cross his arms in irritation and blow his bangs away from his mouth with a scowl.

Sasori was now no longer looking forward to the mission either, and commented wryly,

"If it's not to do with blowing something up, he's not interested."

Exclaiming in protest, Deidara was quietened quickly, and told to leave straight away. Leader gave them a definite direction, and then an 87% sure area to find the rune. It didn't do anything to lighten Deidara's mood. He had said before that it was going to be _so_ boring, and that they'd sit around for days, eventually find it, and then take it back. No fighting, no excitement at all. Just boredom and time passing slowly. He would have taken any other mission, but of course Leader wouldn't let him. Maybe if Sasori had protested, it might have worked, but, of course, Sasori didn't care what the mission was in the slightest.

So Deidara was stuck with the mission without any say in the matter.

And he didn't even get any time to steel himself for it, as Sasori appeared a second after he grabbed necessities, and dragged him out of the hideout, Deidara eventually managing to pull himself out of his grip and glare over at him. Sasori merely ignored that fact, and pushed him once more, causing him to start walking, albeit reluctantly. So Deidara just kind of had to resign himself to going on the mission, accepting the fact it was going to be shit, and that there was nothing he could do to change it. Unfortunately.

Getting there would take a while, though it wasn't particularly far from the hideout. A fact that Deidara had tried to protest to, stating they could just stay in the hideout and travel back and forth. Which was something _also_ denied. So Deidara stayed in his own thoughts, complaining after every few moments, Sasori dismissing him for the most part, but having to snap at him after a while at how annoying he was becoming. With how he was acting, he was hoping the mission would be over as soon as possible as well. It was going to be tougher than usual to put up with him with everything going on. Especially as it began to rain heavily the closer they got.

But it all changed when they reached the area. The sun had set by then, and they had continued into a town a few minutes later in complete darkness. But Deidara's complains fell into silence the moment they arrived, something else preoccupying his mind. What it was, Sasori didn't know. But he was just glad that there was no more whining from him. Deidara hadn't even noticed he was glad of the change. He was too busy focusing on something else.

Things felt different. As if he could feel something in the air. Something crackling on his skin, feeling like static electricity, but acting like it was chakra. Like something was affecting him. He didn't know what it was, why it was affecting _him_, and clearly not Sasori, but it didn't feel bad. Just...unusual. Not quite right in some way. And it was added to as they noticed people watching them from doorways with mistrusting eyes, closing the doors as they got closer, and Deidara was beginning to think they'd be sleeping in the forest at this rate.

But looking up, he spotted a roof—well, a part of it—ahead of them, higher up on a hill, and though he narrowed his eyes as the strange sensation he had received upon arriving at the area increasing as he looked at the building, he still turned to Sasori and asked,

"Hey, Sasori-danna. The people down here aren't gonna let us stay in their houses. But that house up there is empty, from the look of it. Let's stay in that, un."

At first Sasori was a little suspicious, ever more so because of how hidden the house was, and how strongly Deidara was pushing the idea of staying there. They could just force someone to allow them to stay in the town, but for some reason, Deidara was set on staying in the other house, and as such, after much persistent whining, Sasori gave in and allowed him to go. So they went on, heading up the hill, widening their eyes as they finally saw the building in front of them.

It couldn't be called a house; it was a mansion. It was huge, with ivy creeping all along the walls. The closer they got to the building, the bigger the front doors became, until they were triple the size of a six-foot man (Or someone like Kisame). Ornate designs snaked their way up the doors, giving them a regal look, and neither of them could help but feel dwarfed by their size, pausing as they stood there to wonder about what was situated behind them, the place almost undulating with a numinous feeling. Even Sasori felt a little nervous about entering, but realising what he was doing, he shook it off, turning to the doors and moving forward, pushing them open with a grunt. Deidara stayed where he was, the same sensation coming back much stronger now, feeling that the house was somehow going to have a great impact on the next few days.

How, he didn't know. Maybe it was to do with the rune, maybe it was to do with something else entirely. All he knew was that something was in store inside the building, and grinning at his excited nerves and curiosity, he followed Sasori through the doors, helping him push the other door open. If the size of them wasn't enough to reveal how big they were, the weight of them surely was.

But slowly they creaked open, ending with a bang that sent out a dust cloud into the air, only adding to the mysteriousness of the building.

And now without a doubt Deidara knew it was important.


	2. Chapter 2

After taking a few steps in, they both span round as the doors closed once again, shutting out the outside world with another crash that petered out into silence. And, boy, was it silence. Though it was raining heavily outside, there was no evidence of it being that way in the mansion. You would have had to look out of a window in order to know whether it was raining or not. An overall effect that made the place even more eerie.

The grand old architecture that had been on the doors continued inside, and although the doors acted as if they hadn't been used in a few thousand years, they didn't reflect the inside of the building. The place was clean and tidy, with no cobwebs, no dust piles, and no sheets covering all the furniture. It was as if someone lived there, though there were no lights or sounds to prove this theory in the slightest.

They were standing in the entrance hall, marvelling at everything there. It was big enough to be a house in itself, and with stairs ahead that forked left and right. But what the attention was always drawn to in the room was the mirror. A mirror that matched the grand atmosphere of the house, but still contained an ultimately more mysterious aura. Deidara didn't move for a moment, watching all the things in the reflection, wondering why it felt so special. Why it just seemed to be the only thing in the room that mattered. And as he looked, he narrowed his eyes at what appeared to be wings. What they were attached to, he didn't know. But they were definitely wings...

"Deidara? Wake up, already. You're the one who wanted to stay here, so don't just stand around in the hall. Go and find a room. At least do something that involves _moving_," Sasori suddenly spat, making Deidara jolt out of his daydream.

He began to move forward, but still glanced up to look once more, only to see nothing. Whatever it had been, whoever the wings had belonged to...they were gone now. And he had to concentrate on finding somewhere to sleep. If he did, maybe the unnatural essence of the building would ward off any boredom that might begin to reveal itself the more the mission went on. Sasori had no feel for what was going on around him. But even he _himself_ couldn't explain it.

That thought disappeared from his mind as something flashed past them both. Snapping their heads round, there was nothing there, but it continued to flash past again and again, and both Sasori and Deidara reached for their weapons, Sasori snarling as he did so,

"If anything goes wrong, I'm blaming you."

Waiting for their assailant to reveal themselves, they continued following their path until it stopped. They stared down the corridor on the right side, having seen them head down there, but there was nothing, making both of them consider why the hell they weren't showing themselves. They had the advantage. They obviously knew the place well. Knew of escape routes. Places with no way out and places to corner people. So why not start doing so? Though Deidara and Sasori may possibly be more powerful than them, they could still use the surroundings to their advantage.

But it was soon clear that fighting them was not their opponent's goal.

While looking down the right hand corridor, a voice echoed out from the front, and they quickly looked back round, halting slightly as they saw who it was. A young girl around Deidara's age was standing in the crossroads of the stairs looking down at them. Her attire wasn't particularly ninja-esque, with a long dress on with intricate patterns adorning it, but it still appeared as if it didn't hinder her in the slightest. Barefoot, she held no weapons (for the moment), and made no move to attack them, though her facial expression wasn't welcoming.

Though it wasn't her hands Deidara was looking at. Her eyes still seemed huge, even while they were narrowed slightly, and a gem hung down from a headband to lie on her forehead. What she was doing in the mansion Deidara had no idea. He'd never seen a more beautiful girl. All thoughts of fighting disappeared for a moment as he stared gormlessly at her, only snapping out of it when Sasori moved to the side of him.

As his gaze finally moved from her face, he narrowed his eyes at the shackle-like bracelets that were on her wrists, not quite understanding why they were there, and why they seemed to be shackles in the first place. But then his gaze was once again changed as when Sasori stepped forward, whether to attack her or question what she was doing, he didn't know, something began to move on her back, and a second later what Deidara had seen in the mirror was proven right:

She had wings.

They weren't wings that were for birds; or mechanical wings. They were proper, full-on _angel_ wings that extended over her back. Though she had opened them right in sight of them both, almost as a way to show off, it didn't feel as if she was doing it because of arrogance. It felt like she was unfolding them because...she was going to use them.

Standing where she was, she looked as if she was about to move again, but before she did so, she called out,

"What is your reason for being here?"

And then before either of them could collect their thoughts back together and get over the fact she had wings, let alone reply, her wings moved and it was proved that she _could _in fact fly, as she flew upwards and onto one of the higher banisters. Now crouching on it, it gave quite an effect with her wings and grand dress, not to mention with how sweet her voice was, and they were still in silence when she went on,

"Why did you come up here in the first place?"

But in strange way, her words didn't seem threatening. If anything, they appeared...worried about their welfare, if it could be believed. But Deidara, seeing the look in her eyes, knew it was true. Whatever the reason, she was worried about their safety. And with what he now took to be actual shackles, he began to feel worried for hers.

"It started raining heavily, and we needed a place to stay. The villagers in the town didn't seem particularly welcoming to us, so we came up here. All we need is a few days to look for something, and then we'll be gone," Sasori abruptly responded, having got over all of it quicker than Deidara had, causing her to reply,

"That's not my decision. It's my Danna's. But if it _were_ mine, I'd say you should leave. _Now_."

Now Deidara could tell she was merely trying to help, but for what reason, he didn't know. He was still entranced by her eyes, trying to figure out what it was that she was worried about, but didn't get the time, as a moment later another voice echoed out, different from everyone else's, causing all eyes to turn to it, seeing a middle-aged man standing there with a small welcoming smile on his face, greeting warmly,

"My name is Bokun. I apologise for not turning up earlier, but it _is_ a big house! I heard your problem, and if you are looking for a place to stay in the area, you are more than welcome to stay here, and for as long as you want. There's not exactly many other people here to take up the space. Now, if you wish, I'll take you to your rooms. You must be cold and wet, and not to mention hungry."

Slightly shocked at the speed with which things were occurring, they both nodded dumbly in agreement with his words and began to walk forwards, only Deidara glancing back to look at the girl, blinking in surprise to see she had disappeared. Neither Sasori nor her 'Danna' looked back to check on her, and seemed like it had all been in his mind. But he couldn't stop wondering what her situation was. Obviously it was just him and her living there, but why? Was she his daughter, or a family member? And what about all the strange circumstances with her? Not to mention her wings...her attire. Thinking about them he almost missed her straight away.

Her deep intense eyes were all that was imprinted on his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

They walked for a couple of minutes, getting the feeling that what they were walking through was a very small percentage of the entirety of the building. They no doubt had enough rooms to have a hotel, or even a form of lodging for everyone in the town, it was that big. And while they looked they continued walking, Deidara still glancing behind him just to see if the girl had turned up at all, and it was at this point that their—landlord, you could say—began to speak up, starting,

"I see you've met my daughter,"

And Deidara nodded at this, having thought about it all before, though suddenly, a moment later, he remembered her referring to him as Danna. If he was her father, why call him 'Danna'? No child would call their own father that...unless there was reason to. It was confusing him, along with all the other stuff that didn't add up, until he added onto it,

"Well, it seems like it, anyway, as I've known her that long. You'll...see her, and you won't see her during your stay. She comes and goes, but she's a good girl overall."

Feeling a strange surge of relief that one strange circumstance was brushed away and revealed to be fallacy, he concentrated back on walking through the hallways, completely amazed how big the house actually was. It had four floors, and pretty much stretched on for miles. The fact he'd be staying there for a few days was starting to stress him, especially with things like getting lost. It was something that he was beginning to feel really worried about, and would cause him to look like a complete idiot. It was most likely that would happen. And with the fact he had no idea how to act around his 'daughter', he gathered she would most likely turn up and he'd be standing there mumbling like a mental patient.

It brought unadulterated fear into his heart when he thought of it.

Soon, though, they stopped, and he pointed out two rooms opposite each other, and went on,

"I hope you'll find them alright. I really do welcome you to the town. My house is your house, after all. If you need anything, or you have any questions, feel free to ask my daughter. She may have seemed a little harsh at first, but she's very protective of her home. But, unfortunately, I must go. There is some work on the lowest floors that have required my attention for some time."

Raising an eyebrow as he thought about the place, Sasori questioned,

"Structural issues?"

"Sort of. I can't get in to where I need to go to sort out the problem, and even then I need to consider what to do with it and empty what is in there."

Nodding in goodbye with a smile, he turned and walked back down the hallway, leaving both Sasori and Deidara alone to watch him leave. Turning back to each other, they raised their eyebrows in surprise, but walked into their rooms, Deidara halting at the sight of it. It was the size of a small flat, with its own bathroom and a king-size bed. All the furniture looked extremely expensive, and it was an amazing room to be staying in, one which brought a grin to Deidara's face for a moment, before he decided to talk to Sasori and crossed the corridor into his room.

Looking round at him, he made no attempt to complain about him wandering in without knocking, instead going straight ahead with talking to him, knowing he was most likely thinking the same things he was, though much more likely to actual say them to something. Which _would_ be something he was going to complain about. Crossing his arms, but not bothering to sit down on the bed, Deidara pretty much doing the same, he began,

"Don't do anything stupid Deidara. I know this place is...unusual, not to mention the people, but it's a place to stay, somewhere _you_ happened to choose, so don't go around blurting random things out, okay?"

"I never said I was going to, hmm!" Deidara protested with a frown, adding,

"I don't mind this place, so I'm not going to do anything stupid. And not _all_ of the people are strange. The girl seemed fine...if a little shy, yeah," glancing up to see Sasori raising a disbelieving eyebrow at him, only for Deidara to shoot back,

"What? I'm just curious about her, that's all, un."

And before Sasori could respond to his remark, someone knocked on the door, and going over to it for him, Deidara opened it to reveal the girl standing there, looking a lot less firm than when they had first met. Greeting her with a grin, she bowed at both of them, Deidara instantly protesting to it, shaking his head and saying she didn't need to. She merely nodded in return, not looking him in the eyes, and continued simply,

"Is there anything you need?"

Deidara shook his head, shrugging off the question, and answered,

"No, I'm fine. How about you, Sasori-danna, hmm?"

But he too shook his head, and as such she nodded back at them in acceptance of this fact, and then went on to explain she would take them on a tour tomorrow morning, though made it known that if they didn't want to, they didn't have to. But they agreed to the tour, and thanked her for her help, and once this was all explained, she bowed as she said goodbye, quickly straightening and apologising with a blush, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. And once again they were shown her teleportation ability, as the next moment they blinked, the door had been shut and she had utterly vanished, without them even getting a chance to say she didn't need to apologise.

Deidara remained staring at the place where she had stood, still thinking about her, continuing with his trance as he said goodnight to Sasori and left his room. Sasori narrowed his eyes at his attitude and actions, but rolling his eyes and dismissing it, he turned back round and concentrated on the room. Deidara walked silently into his own room, sitting down—and then falling into a lying position—on the bed, still focusing on the girl.

She was so mysterious and secluded from everyone. She wasn't overly shy, and she could be fierce when she wanted to, he could tell when she first spoke, but there was still an innocence there. An innocence that was only with people, and nothing else. It was another thing to add to his list that made him think that there was something suspicious going on. But he couldn't help but really like her. There was something about her that caught his undivided attention, and it didn't seem like it was going to fade.

Her eyes were once again brought to his attention, and then it was her voice, her personality...and yet he knew something was wrong with her. That was holding her back and making her life difficult. He couldn't pinpoint it on a specific thing, and if talking about it to Sasori he doubted it would make any sense, but it he knew for certain something suspicious was going on with her.

The mission actually didn't seem so bad from _this_ point of view.

Because Deidara wanted to help her. With her sweetness, who _wouldn't _want to? He'd barely known her two minutes and he'd already taken a liking to her. His attitude towards the rune they were looking for changed dramatically as he lay there, now thinking that remaining in the mansion—in the area in general—was essentially a good idea. An idea that wouldn't be centred around the rune, but the girl instead.

Even his dream was about her.

And with it came a knowledge in which he knew; that she would remain a big part of his life.

And remain that way forever.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't a normal dream; Deidara could tell that much.

It was like the sensation he had received upon arriving; not bad, but not quite right either. A dream that was utterly unnatural, and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. It started in darkness, just himself walking around without anywhere to go, anything to see...it was just blank. He was looking for something—maybe even some_one_—but for the moment, he could do nothing, and continued walking on through the darkness, until finally something happened, and he halted in his tracks, hoping this change would help him in his search.

The darkness flickered around him, morphing into strange shadowy shapes that grew and then shrank and vanished, only for them to either reappear a second later, or be replaced by something else entirely. But then all the shadows twisted and grew smaller, until Deidara could finally see where he had been standing all along. He was standing in the entrance hall of the mansion, looking over the empty building. Nothing seemed completely wrong, but his instincts were telling him something was coming.

And just like it had the first time, his gaze was automatically drawn to the mirror like a moth to a flame. Only this time...he couldn't look away, even if he wanted to. Things had changed slightly, and instead of the doors being directly behind him, the right hand side corridor was, but other than that, it was an identical scene. Though nothing seemed to be going on. Finding something was on the top of his list, and very urgent, but his mind wasn't forcing him to go, and there was no action to reveal the position of what he was looking for. In the same way that the moment they entered the building all sound ceased, there was no sound now.

Nothing.

Deidara had never heard such silence.

And for a while, it continued, and it seemed as if the dream was going nowhere, starting and finishing with him standing in the entrance hall, staring at the mirror. Well, that _was_ his thought, until something reached Deidara's ears, and instantaneously he began looking for it. He couldn't dismiss it as a little something; the silence was too complete to not notice a sound. Not to mention when he finally realised what it was he was hearing:

A little girl crying.

At first he looked around the room, seeing nothing and no one, whatever direction he looked in. But then, just as he was beginning to think he was hallucinating, his eyes fell back to the mirror. And he saw the girl. She was sitting in the corridor, only a few steps down it, and curled up into a ball on the floor. The fact that it was right in the middle of the corridor escaped her notice, and she had her head buried in her knees as she sobbed. But something was different about the girl; a detail that really made Deidara pay attention.

She had wings, and had them wrapped around her body, though not enough to completely disguise her face and body. Deidara knew it was the girl he'd seen before; there was no way it could have been anyone else, in any circumstance. It wasn't like wings like hers were very common in the world. It was her as a child, but why she was crying, he hadn't a clue. But just like before, he wanted to help her, and as such, his body finally began to move.

Walking forward, Deidara approached the mirror, albeit slowly, and for the moment, watched with a frown of worry and concern at her sobs, somehow knowing there was nothing he could do. Her cries didn't stop, and he was starting to grit his teeth, closing his eyes in frustration at the fact he couldn't help her. All he could think about was that he would do anything to make her happy. But in this situation, anything wasn't enough.

And soon, voices began to speak up, causing Deidara's eyes to flash open, though it never occurred to him that this person was real. The voice circled round her, calling out nasty comments, telling her how pathetic she was, that she didn't deserve to be alive. Repeating over and over again that she was a freak and everybody hated her. Her wings closed ever more closely around herself, but her sobs merely grew louder, her breathing increasing with how badly she was crying.

Now Deidara really felt he had to do something, and opened his mouth to protest to the comments, only to find out with horror that he had no voice. He tried saying anything, and still nothing came out, leaving her alone and without anyone to protect her. Grabbing his throat, he attempted any type of speaking or making noises, but nothing worked, and he remained watching, a feeling of such sadness welling up inside of him that he felt like he could cry.

The feeling didn't go away as the dream went on.

Footsteps now sounded behind her, and the sobs abruptly stopping, she looked over her shoulder, before getting to her feet and sprinting forward, a look of utter terror in her eyes. Deidara couldn't see what was chasing her, but he could hear it, and stepped forward, his hand outstretched, craving the idea of gathering her in his arms and telling her it would all be okay. But his hand soon dropped to his side when he saw what happened next.

Without any warning, any chance to defend herself, a knife extended through the middle of her torso, her body halting point blank, her mouth open in shock and pain, blood coming from her mouth as well as the wound as she stood there. The blood was over her wings, and soon other wounds appeared on her body, blood all over the floor. Deidara stood, paralysed with shock, the enveloping silence returning to the room as she was stabbed.

Then the knife was retracted, and her body began to fall. Now finding the ability to move, Deidara lunged forward and slammed his fists into the mirror, screaming out even though it made no sound. He fought to reach her, to do anything in the slightest that would help her out, but it was useless. The room was stuck in silence, and as her body suddenly appeared at the highest banister, falling onto the floor with a crash that caused the only noise in the place, blood-stained feathers shot out of her wings in every direction, fluttering down to the floor to cover it.

Tears were now running down Deidara's face as he realised that he'd let her die, and his fists remained pounding the mirror weakly in the hope he might do something. But instead his perception changed, and now he was holding her body in his arms, looking down on her body and face. Blood was still running from her mouth, though her eyes were closed, all life having drained from her body. The voice that had tormented and killed her was no more, but it had done enough for its memory to remain as a scar, imprinted on his brain forever.

He held her close, rocking her body like a baby, feeling the blood leak onto his hands, not caring about the mess, but the fact it was her blood on his hands made sobs now start to come out of his mouth like her own had done. Guilt was all that filled his mind as he remembered how he'd killed her. He had sat behind the mirror and let her torture go on, when she needed him. She needed help. Always had done, right from the start, and no one was there to aid her.

Her face was peaceful, but it didn't matter. He'd rather have her face in pain if it meant she was alive to return his gaze. And as such his sobs continued, finally ringing out into the air, the only sound that echoed across the room, all that had ever sounded out in the dream being grief and pain. Her wings were so soft, and still holding her body, kneeling next to her with blood-stained feathers dotted around him, she'd finally become an angel.

But she was dead, so it no longer mattered.

And with that thought crossing his mind, he screamed out a last defiant protest at her passing, burying his face in her neck with sorrow.

A cry that wouldn't stop echoing in his head.


	5. Chapter 5

Waking up suddenly, the cry remained in his head for a good few seconds, before his brain became used to all the surroundings around him, and Deidara relaxed back into the bed, although his mind was racing as to what his dream had been about. The imprints of the images on his mind were extremely strong, and had had a profound effect on him. As he blinked to get over the dream, he rubbed his eyes only to find they were wet from the crying he had experienced.

Yet somehow...it didn't seem surprising.

The emotion he had felt in the dream, when watching the girl cry and when he himself had been crying while holding her body had been powerful, so it didn't appear to be so strange to see his eyes were wet from a few tears. To see her die had felt like a punch to his stomach, and it had felt like a real, true, loss of someone he loved. Another part of the dream which he couldn't shake off, no matter what he tried. But it felt important. Like it was almost a premonition. Something he wasn't _particularly_ happy about, but knew that there was nothing he could do.

So as such, he pulled himself out of bed with a yawn and a stretch, looking over his shoulder quickly once he was done, just to make sure the cry had disappeared from his head, and being met thankfully with silence. Scratching the back of his head with another yawn, he yanked the curtains open, wincing at the light, and grabbed his cloak and slipped it over his shoulders, wondering what to do next, considering the circumstances, without knowing where anything was. It was a huge mansion. He didn't know if he could head anywhere without getting lost. But he just wanted to get out. The room still had the aura of the dream, and he needed to air his own body and mind to get rid of the image of her crying.

Of her being stabbed.

Of the cry the dream had finished with.

He needed to forget it.

But before he could think about what needed to be done, a careful but firm knock rang out into the room from the door, and going over to it, Deidara opened it, expecting it to be Sasori, only to blink in surprise as he saw the girl. Surprised, but not upset in the slightest, he grinned and greeted her, receiving one in return, though slightly less enthusiastic than his own had been. He didn't even notice he felt like being really nice to her after seeing her crying and being insulted in the dream he had had the previous night.

Smiling softly at him, she waited until Sasori resurfaced before starting her tour, stating just before they started that the kitchen would be their final destination, at which point they could get something to eat. Nodding in agreement with this idea, she walked off and both Deidara and Sasori followed with the girl in the middle, pointing out things which were of important value in terms of understanding the layout of the house. She glanced back at both of them to say that things like the ones she was pointing out were good markers to make sure you didn't get lost with the house being the size it was.

Deidara nodded along with this, unable to stop smiling at the fact she said it not in a way that said they were stupid, but once again worried in case they _did_ get lost. Her helpfulness wasn't something Deidara truly understood, considering all that was going on, but as they continued with the tour, he couldn't help but like it as much as he did with her other personality traits. Though the tour was spent mostly in nods of agreement, occasional pointers at rooms from the girl and yes's in accord, Sasori eventually spoke up, the girl slowing down slightly to watch, making Deidara do the same as he questioned,

"Do you have a library?"

"Yeah, sure. Follow me, and I'll show it to you." She responded simply, and at the next corridor turned and headed down a few more, still making sure to point out things that would help them to not get lost.

Then a few minutes later the library door appeared, and entering silently, she pushed the door open fully and revealed the room, Deidara's mouth dropping open as he did so. There were several desks and tables at the front for reading and looking over information, but things just got more amazing the further back into the library you got. Bookshelves stretched as far as the eye could see, and not only were there a lot of bookshelves, but as they reached the walls, the books extended upwards, acting as a wallpaper for the room itself. He didn't doubt there was at_ least_ a million books in there, and stayed staring at it for a second, before managing to mumble in awe,

"You have a massive library, un..."

Smiling softly once again, she shrugged, once again revealing her modesty, but went on, finally managing to distract their attention from the books to face her as she said,

"We pretty much have all kinds of rooms of every type you can think of."

Something suddenly popping up into Deidara's head, ideas already coming together to formulate a plan, he paused for a moment to consider whether or not to ask, but gave in and asked as she finished,

"So...you have an art studio, hmm?"

Turning to look with another small smile, Sasori merely turning to look with a roll of his eyes and a stern look on his face, the girl nodded in answer to his question with her hands in her pockets, shrugging slightly at the intense gaze filled with emotion staring directly at her face, and replying after a moment,

"Yeah, but it kinda leads on to the pottery place. When there were a lot of people living here, they actually used to make and ship pottery out."

This news only bringing more excitement and happiness onto his face and eyes, he edged closer by an inch, his grin growing by the second, and exclaimed,

"So they have clay, yeah?"

"Yeah. There's tons of it, all in crates. Why?" She responded simply, raising an eyebrow in surprise as Deidara suddenly whooped in happiness, the mission taking a new turn for the good as he jumped up and down in absolute delight at what she'd said.

Though it was a little unexpected, the girl really was loving his infectious glee, and then Sasori stepped forward slightly to explain his behaviour, saying with a shake of his head in Deidara's direction,

"He likes to blow things up. Mostly clay."

But upon hearing Sasori's comment, Deidara instantly halted at Sasori's words and let out a protest of indignation as he did so, unable to stop the blush that immediately flared up his cheeks as he thought about what Sasori had just said to _her_. It might not have bothered him that much if it had been someone else, or he might have been more annoyed, but she felt important. And as such, he cared about her opinion.

Why, he didn't know. But it just seemed logical to respect her opinions, and protect how he looked from her point of view. She didn't seem like the type of person to be harsh and put him down constantly—unlike Sasori—but there was always a worry that she would think he was an idiot, and he _really_ didn't want that.

The girl merely waited where she was, looking at him with an expectant look that Deidara knew was egging him on to explain his protests, and blushing even more, he started,

"I make sculptures out of the clay, yeah. I can change the size and shape to what I want...and then I use them as weapons in battle. But I wanted to go to the art studio, yeah, because I, uh...I like to experiment with them, hmm."

Letting out an abrupt giggle at his sudden shy attitude, Deidara's blush automatically faded, being replaced by a grin as he watched her do so. Seeing her laugh brought even more attention to her beauty, emphasising how amazing her eyes were by putting a happy glint into them. It hadn't ever occurred to him that she might get even _more_ beautiful, but then, he'd never seen her truly smile.

It just made him so happy to know that he had been the one to put it on her face.


	6. Chapter 6

If Deidara thought she was beautiful at that moment, when she next spoke up a second later, he was completely in love, having not expected it in the slightest, but merely ecstatic at what she'd said, when she turned to look at him with a small smile and stated simply,

"A transient art form, no?"

Nodding dumbly in response to her, Deidara remained where he was, rooted to the spot and completely unable to converse in the slightest, sure if he did he'd make a complete fool of himself. He had never considered she'd think about what he did; how he fought in that way. But for the moment he stayed where he was, waiting as her gaze flicked back to Sasori, and she continued,

"And...I'm guessing his is more of a lifelong kind of art, from how he doesn't really like your own."

They both nodded in agreement with the last statement, before she finally realised what they were doing, and went onwards, talking as she went. And after a few minutes of talk being thrown back and forth as she took them round the house, she finally arrived at where Deidara most wanted to be in the place; the art studio. He inched closer behind her, wanting to see in straight away, but managed to hold himself back from doing something completely stupid, waiting until she opened the door and he could look in. Grinning, he dashed in and looked at everything, going over to the crates and opening a few, pulling out the clay to look at it, before eventually realising something and slowing to a halt.

Frowning in thought, he considered the mission they were on, and the fact he was with Sasori on the mission in the first place. But then an idea popping up into his head, he shrugged at what he was thinking, attempting to act nonchalant, asking Sasori with a side glance,

"Hey, danna. Can I come in here? You know...every so often, yeah?"

Glaring at him from the doorway, Deidara's face fell as he reckoned he'd be pretty much locked out of the room and banned from coming within five feet of it in the remaining time they'd be on the mission. And he'd go back to doing shit boring stuff. The clay was good stuff, and there was plenty of room; he wouldn't break anything. And if he wanted to blow any of it up, he would go outside. The house was a mansion, it had to have grounds! But luckily the girl saved him for the moment while Sasori thought, speaking up to say,

"Well, that's everything. We should probably head to the kitchen now. Unless you wanna see anything else?"

Shaking their heads, Deidara dragged his feet out of the room, hiding a sigh of disappointment at losing the perfect chance to have the best tools and space to experiment with his bombs. Sasori was still in silence as they began to walk to the kitchen, the girl acting as a barrier between them both to allow Sasori to think, until eventually Sasori let out a sigh. A sigh that made Deidara look over instantly in the hope that something might have changed his mind. That something in his head gave him the epiphany to let him use the studio to experiment with the clay. And his prayers were answered as Sasori responded with a slight scowl,

"Fine. I need to work in the library, Deidara. You do too. But if I give you half hour breaks every now and again to eat...it's your choice. You eat...or you go there. It's not up to me. But just don't. Destroy. Anything."

With a grin, Deidara fully straightened at hearing the news he wanted, and shouted out,

"Thanks Danna, un!"

Only for the girl to giggle for another time, making Deidara's gaze to turn to her, and stay there for a good few moments after she had stopped. His grin shrank slightly as he did so, looking on with a smaller smile, yet just as much emotion shown in it as his grin had before. This fact didn't escape Sasori's notice, and glancing between the two, he then rolled his eyes and threw his hands up slightly in defeat, knowing he couldn't do anything to change it, so he couldn't be bothered to do anything to try.

The kitchen coming into sight, she lead them in, Sasori going immediately over to the table to sit down, Deidara following in and heading for the cupboards and fridge searching everywhere for something he'd like to eat. Watching with a smile, the girl shook her head at both of them, and how their reactions, emotions and actions played off each other, pausing for a minute, before she pushed herself off the doorway where she had been leaning and spoke up, saying in goodbye,

"This is where I leave you. If you're lost or you just need something, call me by mind and I'll come. You can use the library, by the way."

Then she twisted slightly to leave, only to be called back by Deidara, glancing back to see him looking at her in a way that made her blush automatically, feeling strangely self conscious under his gaze, looking down as he added,

"Thank you for taking us round and generally helping us. And...uh...I—I'm Deidara, by the way, and this is Sasori, hmm."

Nodding in return and voicing her thanks, she flashed another smile back at him, one that only Deidara caught, before they both blinked, and she had vanished without any obvious means of making herself do so. It was something that intrigued Deidara greatly, having never had the chance to really see it up close before. But trying to shrug the whole situation off, he turned back to the kitchen to grab something to eat, only for something else to pop up in his head that caught his attention, and look to Sasori to comment,

"We didn't get _her_ name, yeah."

Sasori then showed him a _true_ shrugging off of a situation, and soon Deidara gave up, rolling his eyes and turning back to his food, ignoring Sasori's comments to hurry up so they could get on. Though eventually Deidara had to finish, and lead him back to library, surprisingly not getting as lost as they thought they would (though Sasori wouldn't admit he was worried about it). Then they arrived at the library, awed by its size even though having seen it before. Though when Sasori sighed a second later, Deidara looked over with a questioning look, only to see him with a determined yet annoyed look on his face, making him realise just what he was aiming to do. Slinging his head round to look at all the books, Deidara looked back to Sasori with a disbelieving expression on his face and spat,

"You can't be serious, danna, un!"

"We don't have a choice. Let's start with sections and see where we get." He replied simply, Deidara adding a sigh and following after him. He couldn't comprehend what they were about to attempt, having thought from the beginning the mission was going to be shit, and having been proved right with their near impossible task of finding a book that explained about the rune in a library the size of a large town. There was no way they'd find it. Ever.

But soon they were both wading through a sea of books, and not really finding anything. They'd looked through the amount of books most libraries contained if all spaces were filled and it was impossible to fit another book onto a shelf, and yet none of what they'd been looking over was of any help. They were getting closer to the kind of things they wanted, but it still wasn't the ideal book, and as such they continued looking. And looking.

And looking.

For hours they continued in the same way, their search bringing up nothing. Sasori was getting more and more agitated about everything, ready to clench his fists and punch someone in the face, and Deidara was almost at breaking point and near to crying. It wasn't until Deidara had walked into a small shadowed section of the library on the left side right at the back, pulled out another book with a sigh and flicked through the first few pages, paying more attention once the words were absorbed into his brain. But it wasn't really sinking in until he flicked past a page which was talking about a solid object that had a huge amount of power, only to go on to the next page which contained a large picture, causing him to stop and look back. Only once he did, he had to sigh in relief with a grin.

It might be exactly what they'd been looking for.

Well, what _Sasori_ had been looking for.


	7. Chapter 7

Calling out for Sasori, he soon appeared, and Deidara practically threw the book at his face, screaming out that it might be what they were looking for, showing the pages he'd just looked over. As Sasori's own eyes passed over it, he smirked in gladness at what Deidara had found, taking the book and walking over to the shelves that were around the same place Deidara had found that particular book and began searching there. Ignoring the fact that Sasori hadn't thanked him, or even mentioned he was grateful, he rolled his eyes and waited, wondering whether he should ask now whether he could go to the art studio, considering he'd just found the book.

But Sasori instantly knew what he was thinking about, and turned round with a raised eyebrow to state,

"No. You're staying here and finding some more books about the rune. You seem to be vaguely good at it."

Sighing, his face soon falling into a pout as he went into a sulk, he joined Sasori and started glancing simply at the books, not caring in the slightest whether or not he found something until Sasori mentioned the more books he found, the quicker he might let him go. This was exactly the encouragement Deidara needed, and immediately his search become much more thorough. But although they had two of them now, and a much more specified area to look through, it still wasn't perfect. The books they found that were to do with the rune were all in riddles, and figuring them out would take more time. Time that they didn't want to waste.

But it was all they had, and with armfuls of books they sat at one of the tables and began to look. For quite a few hours, I might add, until it reached lunchtime, at which point Deidara complained that he was starving, and Sasori had to give in, considering it was twelve. So shrugging at that fact, he nodded to his complaints and let him go, adding,

"Just remember what I said about not destroying anything."

Dismissing that statement, Deidara threw a 'thank you, un' behind him and continued walking, leaving Sasori to go on with his research with a roll of his eyes. Coming out of the library, Deidara recalled the directions to the art studio perfectly, and set off, half walking and half running, and eventually came up to the door, sliding to a halt, opening the door and leaving it that way, not caring about that fact. Going straight over to the clay, he grabbed a ton of it and sat down somewhere comfortable, happy to stay in that position the entire time without eating anything. He could eat anytime. But he couldn't do _this_ anytime.

So food could wait.

The fact his stomach began to rumble was completely forgotten, and he was so focused on the clay that he barely noticed the presence behind him at the doorway, only turning round when they fully came into the room. If it had been anyone else, he would have greeted them and turned back to the clay, but seeing the girl standing there, he dismissed the clay and concentrated solely on her as she stood there with a tray. At first she said nothing, looking shy and unsure as to what to do, looking down and blushing slightly at how intensely he was concentrating on her, but a moment later she apologised, adding,

"I just knew you'd choose to come here instead of getting something to eat, so I thought I'd bring it to you."

But then seeing his arms, hands and clothes covered in clay, even some smudged on his face, she gathered he was working hard on something with the clay, and looking round at the room, thinking about everything, she realised how stupid it all seemed now and apologised once again, blurting out,

"I didn't mean to barge in. I should just go."

Before twisting slightly to do so, until Deidara called out a protestation, half between getting up and remaining where he was, pausing for a second as she turned back round, before sighing and explaining with a smile,

"Look...it's okay, un. You don't have to leave. You're free to stay if you want to, un."

Looking slightly reluctant, something Deidara sensed wasn't particularly about her own insecurities. There was something else that was bothering her about staying. Something to do with someone else...but the emotion he had seen in her eyes disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, and he had to push the feeling away, knowing he would never get anywhere by asking her. Whatever—or _whoever_—was holding her back from doing what she wanted to do, from being who she wanted to be...was putting such an influence on her that there was nothing he could do to get her to tell. So instead he came back into reality and watched as she came closer and put the tray down. An action that automatically brought a smile to his face when she did so, seeing the bakudan placed on the tray in front of him.

Grinning at that fact, he exclaimed,

"Hey, my favourite! Thanks, un!"

Before instantly lunging in to stuff everything in his mouth, getting close to finishing in two minutes, only pausing when a giggle sounded out, and looking up without thinking, he asked a small,

"What, un?"

With a mouth full of food, without the slightest idea as to the clay and food over his face, and unable to smother a full-blown laugh from occurring, she burst out laughing at the sight of his face with all the stuff on it and the cute look in his eyes along with the cute expression on his face, she continued laughing at it all and managed to say simply,

"Not only do you have clay all over your face, but now you've got food, too."

Blushing a bright red at her words and at his own idiocy, he grinned sheepishly and wiped it off, finishing his meal a little more carefully than he had done at the beginning, falling into silence afterwards, not certain how to continue. All they could do was look back at each other, finding ideas in their heads that they considered to be a little sudden, but somehow merely right, Deidara's thoughts only adding onto ones he'd been having the moment he'd seen her, unknowing that the girl had been having similar thoughts for the same amount of time.

Finally snapping out of it, Deidara decided to break the silence first, and said gently,

"Come and sit down, un."

Once again slightly hesitant to do so, she glanced back to the door, wondering whether to go, until deciding within a second as she looked back into his eyes, and smiled for another time, ignoring what _could_ be and focusing on what was happening at the moment. And as such, she walked over and sat on his right. For a moment they once again sat in silence as Deidara slowly turned back to his sculpture making with the clay, until finally she opted to speak up, questioning softly,

"How do you make the clay sculptures so good, Deidara-danna?"

Turning slightly, he paused, wondering whether or not to tell her, memories of situations in his old village coming back to him upon seeing what he could do, but seeing the sweet gentle look on her face he softened, and decided to. Smiling tenderly, he removed his hands from the sculpture he was making and lifted up his arms, palms up, revealing the mouths placed in them. And instead of moving away and looking on in disgust, she smiled right back at him, reaching out to gently touch one of them, the smile growing as a tongue suddenly popped out.

"You have three mouths! That's so cool..." She exclaimed quietly, glancing up at him.

And that was all they needed. A moment later she began to ask more questions, though repeatedly stating that if any of her questions were too intruding, he just had to say and she'd stop. Something that always made Deidara laugh and keep insisting that it was fine, and that he didn't mind her asking questions. He himself had an urge to ask _her_ some questions, but pretty much knew that she wouldn't reveal the answers. Too much suspicious stuff was going on for her to reveal it all in a question from a stranger who'd only just turned up.

But it didn't feel like it. It felt like they were friends. That they knew each other really well, and the word 'stranger' didn't exist between them anymore. And soon enough, with all the information she'd found out about him and his abilities, she whispered softly,

"Show me."

Blinking in surprise at her statement, he blushed once again, and looked down at his fingers as he fiddled with them, suddenly feeling nervous that he'd do something wrong. But at the same time he didn't want to disappoint her, and so glancing at her to say with a grin,

"Don't put me under pressure, un!"

But with a grin in return from her, he began to make another sculpture, and with seconds had made a small bird like the ones he used for transport. Holding it up for her to see, she smiled sweetly at it and with a questioning glance, took it from him and played with it in her hands. While he looked on, smiling happily at how happy she was herself; a kind of happiness that he doubted she experienced very often. As she stopped, she looked back up at him and breathed,

"Wow."

But her amazement was nothing in comparison to his own, when she began to reveal something of what she herself could do.


	8. Chapter 8

Whatever Deidara had been expecting, it hadn't been that.

She had taken a handful of clay, and he had figured she would just mould it like a normal person would, and so he had turned back to his own method, making more of what he needed. But it wasn't until he glanced back at her and saw chakra snake up her arms and disappear back into her body that he really began to pay attention, wondering what she had done. And then she held up what she had been making with the chakra. And it was this that had amazed him completely and rendered him speechless, unsure what to say.

There was a beautifully intricate rose placed in her hands.

Frowning in wonder, he asked if he could hold it, and she complied, causing him to take it and look it over, still in a trance as to how she did it. And in the same way she had done to him, he questioned softly about her showing him how she moulded the clay like that. Swallowing hard, she had bit the inside of her lip while she considered it, weighing up pros and cons of showing him, but realising he had shown her, even though he might have been nervous, made her opt to show him, returning the favour. So taking another handful of clay, she laid her hands horizontally above one another, palms facing each other, and placed the clay in between. Watching carefully, Deidara's eyes widened as she closed her eyes, and it abruptly began to float, as electricity-like chakra wormed its way down her arms and onto her hands, and the clay effectively moulded itself.

A second later and it had turned into a small cat, with every detail perfect on it. Deidara exhaled in admiration at what she'd done, once again wondering what the hell she was doing in the mansion and not in a ninja village. Somewhere where she could make a proper life for herself, instead of in a deadbeat town just sitting in a mansion. She deserved better. And with her powers, there wasn't anything she couldn't do. Spluttering for a few minutes after the show, Deidara finally managed to find his voice, and blurted,

"Whoa. I—you—whoa. How did you learn how to do that, un?"

But suddenly she was timid and quiet, and wouldn't look him in the eye, looking down at her feet, hesitant to reveal details about her abilities, to Deidara's confusion. Even when she did begin to speak, it was reluctant, and she mumbled several things which Deidara couldn't catch, before stuttering,

"I just found I could do it. I have to come in here a lot, and I used to go over to the clay and work with it. And then I guess...it just kinda happened. I've always had things I can't control, like my telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation..."

Grinning in fascination, Deidara responded with a,

"Nice, un!"

Though she soon fell into silence, and didn't seem to want to tell anymore about them, and he finally brought up the courage to ask her something that was a little more personal, and sighing, he questioned innocently,

"Why can't you tell me anything else, un?"

"My danna doesn't know," was all she whispered in return.

Bewildered once again with her use of 'danna' when the guy appeared to be alright, he frowned and glanced away, thinking it all over. The girl, however, watching as he did so, realised what exactly she was doing and widened her eyes in shock, and stood quickly, Deidara's gaze followed her, doing nothing while she spluttered,

"I should leave."

But as she grabbed the tray and turned to go Deidara leapt up and stretched an arm out to her to call for her to stop, actually managing to voice this attempt at stopping her, but when he blinked while standing...she was already gone, literally in the blink of an eye. All he could do afterwards was sigh, sitting back down with a thump as he thought of her actions and reactions to what he'd said and asked her about, and although he wished what he had said hadn't made her leave, that being one of the last things he wanted, he was sort of glad he _had_ asked. It really brought the fact something was wrong to a head, and he definitely knew something was going on in the mansion, but the problem was perfectly fitting for the mansion itself: mysterious and almost eerie in a way. And his dream was brought to mind again.

He wanted to help.

But maybe the dream had some truth in it. Maybe it was connected to reality.

Maybe he couldn't help her, even if he tried.

With another sigh, hating how upset he felt, he left everything where it was, not caring about it for the moment, and dragged himself out of the room to the library, doing so at a slow crawl. He didn't want to do anything; not experimenting with bombs, not fighting, not anything. But looking for information in about a million books was about as close to nothing he could get, and as such pressed on, finally arriving at the library a minute later. Walking across the room to the area where Sasori was, he completely blanked Sasori's words about being extremely late and merely grabbed the nearest book and began looking through it, writing down things that might be useful in it, and if not, looking for another book on the shelf.

Now that Deidara had rejoined the search, the progress was a little more useful, though riddles were _still_ all that were coming out in terms of information. Sasori had solved quite a few of them, but he needed Deidara to help him out with it all. But now he had come back, Sasori wasn't concentrating as much. He'd ask Deidara to pass him something that he needed or get something while he was up, and received a spat comment back. Noting the cause with an obvious roll of his eyes, he waited for a few minutes before stating nonchalantly,

"So she visited you, did she?"

Instantly flinging his head up, he calmed down a little bit after his eyes meeting Sasori's, and somehow with him sitting there making conversation about her, his anger slipped away, and a reminder of how upset he had been was thrown back in his face, and with a slightly more sensitive look on his face now, he exclaimed,

"But there's something wrong, Sasori-danna! Don't you think it's all suspicious surrounding her? She's in trouble, and we can't even tell what it is, un!"

Sasori didn't give a reaction, as was expected, and looked down at the book he was holding, and began writing something else down. Sighing, and thinking Sasori was avoiding the question completely, Deidara began to go back to his own book, when he noticed Sasori's gaze flick back to his, and listened carefully as Sasori replied,

"Of course there's something suspicious going on with her. But for the moment, there is nothing we can do. You'll just have to wait to get more information before you can figure out if there _is_ anything you can do. So why not focus on finding the rune until that opportunity arises."

A small soft smile fluttered onto his face at the knowledge, allowing him to take a deep breath partly fuelled by relief at the idea of being able to help. But something still held him back from being truly happy with Sasori's answer, and ultimately from thanking him for it. All he could think about was how similar he was feeling to what he had felt in the dream at the beginning. It was like the dream had had some sort of prophetic touch to it. And now it was making him worried. The dream had started off bad, and had merely got worse. So when it came down to it...

Were things going to get worse?

Or would he have to see her die?


	9. Chapter 9

He wouldn't ever be entirely convinced about Sasori's theory, but it was the best he could do, and as such followed it, breathing out a sigh of fatigue as he headed to his room for the night. He hadn't been doing anything but pencil-pushing and bomb-making, but he still felt as if he'd been fighting all day. She herself could connect with that feeling, rubbing her head in disappointment and frustration at what had happened, their routines to go to sleep mirroring each other. Their thoughts were only on the other, and their minds were so much on overdrive that it didn't seem like they'd be able to get to sleep, even with the exhaustion they felt.

But she was worried.

The only expression she had been wearing for the last few hours had been a frown of concern aimed at Sasori and Deidara. Deidara especially. Everything was alright now, and like today, she had been talking with them, and playing and joking around with Deidara, and had felt more carefree than she had done in years. But things might change. There was always a little worry at the back of her mind, even as she talked to him that day, and any other day that would follow. She didn't want to be that way; Deidara was such a good friend to her, and had done nothing but help her and make her laugh. It was why she felt so guilty about leaving that quickly; about hiding so many things from him. But she didn't know what Bokun would do. She cared for them. So although it hurt her, she kept her silence. She'd rather feel that amount of guilt for keeping things from them than feel horrendous at having gotten them hurt.

She'd just have to try and keep going.

Deidara was worried as well, but this time, it was the other way around. The more he stayed with her, the more he began to see things were wrong. Which made him think that whatever was going on was keeping her away from the outside world. Away from meeting new people like she was now with him. A little bit before talking to her like he had, he might have felt guilty for making things a little worse, but now he was also grateful for being able to figure out a little bit more about her, and get closer to helping her get over it. What Sasori had said made sense, but it would be hard for him to comply. She was the only one who could give them information, and she was protecting it well, for some reason he wasn't quite sure of. A realisation popping up into his head, he let out a bitter laugh at the fact the roles had been reversed, and Sasori was now the one shrugging the time off, like it didn't matter, and _he_ was the one who was becoming impatient over getting the information. But he was just scared that if he didn't get the information quickly, then she'd be hurt.

That the dream would come true.

Because it seemed like what had happened in the dream was connected with the numinous essence of the house and of the very area itself. But of all things, the dream coming true was the last thing he wanted in the world. All they were trying to do was protect each other. And as such, they both had to do things neither of them wanted, but in the end, would ultimately keep the other safe.

Well, at least, for the moment, anyway.

Deidara fell asleep, thankfully, without any dreams, but still woke up the next day with her on his mind. Shaking it off, he got up and continued on like the day before, heading straight to the library after getting something to eat, and returning to the riddles. Using the research as a way to occupy his mind, they found that they were making a pretty good amount of progress with the riddles. The only problem was, that even once all the riddles were solved, they still had all the answers to somehow connect together and find out about the rune overall, and then come up with some sort of plan to get the rune afterwards. But at least _something_ was moving along, and everything they did got them one step closer to what they wanted. If the idea that the closer they got to getting the rune the closer they got to leaving the mansion flashed up in Deidara's head, he pushed it away and focused on what was in front of him. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it. For now he'd make sure she was safe. What would happen when she was okay was something he'd consider another time.

But once again, like yesterday, when it came to twelve, Sasori sent Deidara off to "get something to eat", and he went immediately after it was suggested. He'd been speed-walking to get to the studio before, but now he dismissed that idea and sprinted point blank to the room, flew in and got to work, checking the clock and the doorway behind him every now and again to see if she was coming. And after the first few minutes, he began to get nervous when she wasn't there yet. He didn't even realise how agitated he was getting until she finally appeared in the doorway with the tray of food and a small smile on her face. Hiding a sigh to release the amount of agitated energy he'd been holding for the last five minutes, he merely greeted her and invited her in, their conversation starting up almost automatically.

Though Deidara couldn't bring himself to ask her anymore questions about his suspicion. Seeing her talking to him, her smile, her laugh...he couldn't do it. He just wanted to spend time with her while she was happy. Talking about everything strange going on in her life stopped that. And who knows? Maybe if she was comfortable enough with him she'd reveal it herself in due time. But there was _one_ thing he thought he _might_ be able to blurt out. But even that took him a while. It wasn't until she really noticed him looking a little anxious that she quietened and asked him what was wrong. And with a deep breath to gather his nerves together and build up his courage, he answered,

"I'm fine. I just...I feel kind of guilty, with you knowing my name and me not knowing yours after all this time, un."

With a smile in return to his question, hiding the relief that he had been wanting to talk about something else, or he was going to reveal something that would affect her greatly, she nodded at the question, agreeing to answer it. Frowning in bewilderment at why it had never crossed her mind to state her name in return, she said simply,

"Tenshi. But everyone calls me Angel."

But although a grin blossomed instantaneously onto his face the moment her words absorbed into his brain, his brain also caught onto something else that affected his emotions just as greatly as her words themselves had done. He wasn't able to voice them; his mind couldn't even get a grip on them to tell them to anybody else. Even if he _did_ truly understand them, telling Angel would be the last thing on his mind, considering all thoughts were centred around her in the first place.

Then the word Angel flashed through his head and his grin remained at full strength. He wasn't surprised that her nickname was Angel. With how beautiful she was, and then with the added factor of her wings themselves...she really did look like an angel. Another thought he wouldn't be able to tell her. He'd probably faint of embarrassment before he even managed to stutter out the word 'Angel'. Deidara knew for certain that he wasn't saying _that_. He'd already embarrassed himself enough in front of her to make sure that he never did it again. All he could do was whisper,

"Angel..."

Giggling with a blush at his sudden whispered comment, Angel looked down at her feet, but with the smile still evident. This did nothing to lessen the mindset that Deidara had managed to get himself into, and his smile widened with no regards as to what was dancing around inside his head. Cursing himself mentally numerous times, he tried to direct his thoughts away from Angel, by doing anything at all that would help him in this goal.

But thinking the idea of her nickname being given because she looked like an angel over another time, staring at her blushing with an absentminded smile on his face, he had to smother a groan and a whispered curse at what he was now starting to think with everything going on. It couldn't be possible. It wasn't rational, reasonable..._sensible,_ in the slightest. If Sasori knew, he'd tell him instantly it was completely and utterly stupid. But knowing that fact changed nothing of what was going on. If it was what he thought it was, then he was done for.

But _could_ it be true?

Was...was he in love with Angel?


	10. Chapter 10

"Is that because of your wings?"

Deidara squeaked out a moment later, forcing away anything else and concentrating on actually talking to her, instead of sitting there staring creepily at her. But his question brought about a mixed reaction; one that he hadn't really been expecting at all. Because instead of instantly saying yes, or even saying no; an answer to a question that seemed relatively easy in terms of talking about it, knowing at least with _that, _that there was no chance of offending her. But although a smile appeared on her face, Deidara sensed immediately it wasn't the same kind of smile she had been wearing a second ago. It was a sad smile.

One that caused his own look of happiness to fall off, especially as she merely said,

"Sort of."

Unsure what to do next, torn between pushing on with the nature of her answer and why it was merely 'sort of', instead of a simple yes or no, or just letting it be and trying to continue on with a normal conversation. Because he couldn't choose between the two, he could do nothing but sit in silence, wishing he had the courage to at least say something to comfort her, even a tiny bit. But nothing came to mind that would help her without trying to get information out of her, which would only make her sadness worse. And in the end, it was Angel who spoke up first, attempting to direct the conversation away from what had been said before.

Though Deidara accepted the offer of a new conversation, the moment was not forgotten.

Not when even the circumstances surrounding her _name_ were suspicious.

The feeling never went away throughout them talking, as she always tried to make the conversation light, with no questions aimed at her, no questions aimed at him. None of them had to reveal secrets or tell the truth. It was just light, care-free talk. The fact it brought a smile and a laugh back to her face was not something Deidara didn't want—anything but—but he knew she was just...trying to cover it up. Somehow something inside of him told him that she wasn't as happy as it appeared on the surface. The smiles and the laughs were real; but there was no glint of joy in her eyes, like there had been last time. It remained unseen. As much as she tried to forget about whatever was hurting her, it was still lurking in the back of her mind. To the point where she couldn't get rid of it, even though she was trying, by focusing on spending time with Deidara.

And it hurt him as much as it did her.

An idea that seemed ever more evident with how his feelings were turning out.

Too embroiled in the conversation and the thoughts in both their heads, they didn't notice anyone at the door until a voice called out, Bokun stepping into the room. He had the same welcoming smile he had worn when Deidara had first arrived, but it changed as Angel rapidly scrambled to her feet, bowing deeply and remaining that way for at least ten seconds, breathing in apology,

"Danna."

Now looking at her, the expression he had been carrying a moment earlier was long gone. In its place was a stare that was finding it difficult to hide a cold hard glint that was aimed at Angel alone, creating a tension in the room that Deidara had no idea how to react to. The look in Bokun's eyes had significance; he knew it did, but without knowing the true nature of what was going on, there was nothing he could do for the moment to stop it. But it was like time had slowed down, Deidara merely being an observer on the sidelines, watching while the action went on before him. Why Bokun was looking at her like that, he had no idea, but he had an intuitive feeling that it was somehow all connected. The smothered glare he was giving Angel didn't disappear as he stated,

"I would like to talk to you later, if that's not too much to ask, Angel."

"Of course, Danna." Angel simply whispered in return, her eyes never meeting his own, something else Deidara noted with narrowed eyes.

But the cold look in his stare passed on by as time sped back up, his gaze turning to Deidara as his expression melted into the same welcoming smile he always had plastered on his face when talking to them both. But after seeing the hidden glare towards Angel, he wasn't so sure anymore if his 'welcoming smile' was as hospitable as it had appeared in the first place. It all appeared to be fake now, from what he said to when he turned up. Angel had first met them with a bow, and when told she didn't have to, only to do it again, she looked so shocked at what she had done. If Bokun had known her that long that she was 'like a daughter' to him, then how did it turn out that she bowed to anyone in her company? Apologised for anything she did, even when she had no reason to?

"Has everything been okay? Your room? Food? Things to do?" Bokun then spoke up to Deidara, jolting him out of his daydream, though he was a little more guarded at the friendliness emanating from him as he spoke, replying,

"Yeah, it's been great, un."

Though without the usual grin on his face, Angel knew he was thinking about something, and something to do with her, and gritted her teeth, mentally cursing herself at everything that was going on. She was done for. He was noticing things. Things that were meant to stay secret. If they got out, she didn't know what would happen to her afterwards. But saying anything with Bokun in the room was a no-no. So she stood where she was with her eyes firmly planted on the ground, staying that way as Bokun nodded and replied with a 'you're welcome' to his feedback and turned to leave, the hidden glare turning once back to Angel as he said levelly,

"I'll be seeing you later,"

A sentence that sounded more like a threat than it did a simple statement. But he didn't get the chance to look at Bokun's expression as he said it, and just watched as he left and walked down the corridor, leaving Angel and Deidara in an awkward silence that overwhelmed everything. Angel stood in the same spot for a few seconds, almost waiting for footsteps to disappear, before suddenly looking back to Deidara, worry creasing her face. But that wasn't bothering him. It was the tears that seemed to be welling up in her eyes. Why, he didn't know. But he knew for certain that he was bothered about _that_. Though he didn't even get the chance to comfort her and ask what was wrong, as she immediately blurted out,

"Sorry, Deidara-sama, I—I have to go," Picking up the tray as she said it and vanishing in the same way she always did.

Deidara stayed in position, though now alone in the silent room, unable to move because of his concern and worry about Angel, and couldn't help but let out a massive sigh at what was going on with her. If there was a clue, or a hint, that something—or even some_one_—could give him that would allow him to help her; he would take it in a second. He craved to help her, and he knewfor certain he could. It was like the answer was right in front of his eyes, and he couldn't get to it, couldn't understand it, couldn't even _see_ it in the first place!

The 'Danna' thing was definitely giving him more wood to add to the fire. It was all adding up like it was some kind of big conspiracy. It _was_ undeniably big to him if it was concerning Angel and her general welfare. If it was concerning his emotions for her. Maybe things were worse than he thought. Maybe she was trapped. The caged bird in all of this. An angel chained down to the floor with no way of unfolding her wings.

Was Bokun the instigator in all of this?

And if so...was she in more danger than he had first thought she was?


	11. Chapter 11

Deidara went to Sasori after Angel left, his research about the rune hindered by everything going on his head. When Sasori questioned him as to what it was, feeling that there was something relatively serious going on, though it may be focused solely on Deidara's worries alone, even _he_ was slightly surprised at how Deidara reacted. He shook his head at Sasori's question, glancing around constantly and stating repeatedly that he wouldn't tell him. From the look on his face, Sasori knew he had to tell someone, let it all out, the emotions and thoughts inside of him were so forceful and explosive, but obviously, it would have to wait until later.

Neither of them could concentrate on the rune. Knowing there was something Deidara wanted to tell him, and somehow wanting to know about it himself, he was becoming impatient to know what it was, and kept fidgeting around as he read, the words not coming together to make any sense to him anymore. Deidara simply stared blankly at the pages, turning them every now and again to make it seem as if he was reading. He was too busy thinking about Angel, and whether Bokun had anything to do with it. The situation in the art studio reflected this idea and amplified it, and as such Deidara didn't feel comfortable telling Sasori anything—or getting advice off of him—in such a large room, with so many places for him to listen in and find out what was going on. If he was catching on to what was going on with Angel.

So for the next few hours the fruitless research continued, until eventually Sasori stated they'd better finish, as they were both tired and couldn't find much else in the current books they were reading. Deidara didn't protest in the slightest, though his agreement in stopping was less enthusiastic as it normally was. He merely nodded softly in accord with Sasori's idea, and standing, he closed the book in front of him, and slid it, along with the paper he "had been writing on" to the rest in the middle of the table, following Sasori as he left the library. This time Sasori waited while Deidara grabbed something to eat, the fact he was slow not affecting him in the slightest. How Deidara had reacted to his simple question was making him think. Suddenly _he_ was becoming paranoid of what was going on.

It wasn't until he realised that he'd been waiting on Deidara for the last five minutes that he snapped out of it for a moment, shaking his head and hurrying him along. But Deidara was soon finished, not particularly hungry after it all, and turned with Sasori and went back to their rooms, though heading into Sasori's instead of his own for the moment. Sasori sensed he was still a little tense as he glanced around a couple of times, but eventually focused completely on him and told him what was bothering him so much. And just as Sasori had suspected, it wasn't as forgettable as he would have first thought it would be. True, he was talking about what was going on with Angel—as he now took her name to be—but there was something that still surprised him, as Deidara continued,

"And everything was fine, but then Bokun showed up and she went all introverted and—"

"Bokun showed up?" Sasori suddenly cut in, narrowing his eyes at Deidara. He merely nodded yes in response, questioning,

"Why is that such a big deal, un?" Sasori didn't hesitate and as he stated firmly,

"How many times have we seen him over our stay?" Deidara could do nothing but burble,

"Uhh..."

"Yeah. Exactly. We—well, _I—_have only seen him once. And you only saw him another time because he clearly wanted to speak to Angel. Well, at least, _apparently_ wanting to speak to Angel. The "structural" problems he's having down in the basement can't be _that_ bad. Plus, we haven't heard a sound from down there. Whatever he's doing, it's not as innocent as it first seems. Somehow I don't doubt your concern over Bokun and Angel isn't _that_ unfeasible." Sasori went on, analysing things carefully from his point of view, considering he was the only one calm enough to do so. Deidara nodded along with it like an eager to learn child, exclaiming afterwards,

"Yeah! Before Bokun came into the room, she was fine, and talking to me like anybody else, but every time he's mentioned in a conversation, she instantly goes shy and quiet and vanishes off, un!"

Narrowing his eyes once again at this piece of information, Sasori asked quickly in return,

"It's happened before?"

"Uh-huh. The day before yesterday, Angel showed me that she could create much more intricate shapes with the clay than I ever could with her chakra, and then she said she had other stuff that she couldn't control like telepathy and stuff. But then she went quiet, and when I asked why she couldn't say anymore, she whispered that "her danna didn't know" and ran off, un!" He elaborated, his face trying hard to smother a pained expression that was clearly showing up in his eyes anyway. Sasori ignoring this fact completely, he shook his head at what Deidara had said and shot back,

"Wait...she's proficient in ninja abilities? She has powerful ones like telepathy? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I guess it was because at that moment she mentioned the fact that she never showed her abilities because of Bokun, and it just slipped to the back of my mind, un."

Turning to face the window, Sasori crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked down at the floor, never having thought that it would be Deidara that would give him all this information—even though he was doing it subconsciously. Whatever the house was hiding, it needed to be brought to the surface. The library had so much knowledge about the rune, and though the books were placed right at the back in a corner, they weren't up on the walls like something that no one knew about. Just books that were there. They were hidden out of people's sight, but still in an easily-accessible place. Maybe they just couldn't figure out what was what. Couldn't decipher the riddles and figure anything out.

But Sasori couldn't figure anything out himself. There were so many things to consider;

Was Bokun after the rune? If he wasn't, did he know they were researching about some sort of power, and if he _was, _was he just using the hospitality card as a way to catch them off guard; wait until they found out some useful information about it, and then strike when he had what he needed? And, when thinking it all over, was Angel in on it as well? But then, the answer being 'yes' to that question was something he doubted greatly. Choosing to hang out with Deidara, when he himself knew more about the rune than Deidara did, was not something she needed to do if she was in on it. Though it was a possibility she knew something was going on with Bokun. Or at least knew that he was planning something. Planning on doing something that affected them. From the way she was talking and spending time with Deidara, it was clear she didn't want that. Maybe the fact she could keep an eye on him was a bonus as she got to know him. Probably fall in love with him, with how Deidara kept going on about something she had said or done when he came back from the art studio after talking to her.

"The more we stay here, the worse it gets. You were right. I thought there might be a little more than on the surface, but with how things are now, we'd have to dig _much _deeper to find a fraction of the truth," Sasori finally began, trailing off into silence as more thoughts appeared.

All of it was confusing, and piled on top of trying to get the rune; it was giving Sasori a headache. But he was starting to think it was all overlapping into one. Deidara's decision to head to the mansion may just have been a fate-driven and utterly lucky one. By going here they'd found out more about the rune than they could have done anywhere else. But it was going to take solving one problem to get to the other problem that was practically hidden under the floorboards and in a pit six foot deep. He didn't know if it was a definite fact; but there was a relative percentage that it might be. So finally turning back to Deidara, he added simply,

"Deidara...I think Angel's something to do with the rune."

His heart sinking with his sentence, scared it might affect and hurt Angel, Deidara merely nodded half-heartedly in return, sighing and admitted he'd thought it was a possibility. Just one that he didn't even want to admit to himself. So thanking him quietly, he turned and left to go into his own room, Sasori unable to do anything but look on. Deidara laid on his bed that night, hating the thought his brain was throwing at him repeatedly. Things were getting worse.

So was his dream really coming true?


	12. Chapter 12

The next day dawned, and yawning, Deidara pulled himself out of bed instantly, grabbing his cloak and going to see if Sasori was ready. He was prepared to do anything to save her, and starting earlier meant he'd be able to figure out more with the riddles in the library. If the rune was connected to Angel, he would work so much harder to find something that could help her, and then go and see her, to see if she was any different to how she had been yesterday. Surprisingly, Sasori wasn't shocked himself to see Deidara up so early—Sasori pretty much guessing Deidara's mindset considering Angel—and they left to the library immediately, Deidara grabbing some food beforehand to constitute breakfast as he began to read.

With both of them working so hard, it was all coming together, almost all riddles collected, and a lot of them deciphered. True, there was one thing that, once figured out, would make everything simple and instantly allow them to know where the rune was that they were missing, but they had the basis for it all. Now all they had to do was put it together. Something that Deidara, at twelve, pushed to the back of his mind as he quickly threw the reason for him leaving back at him and went on to the art studio. Though he didn't stop making sculptures, it was a much longer process than usual. He was waiting on Angel so much he didn't notice all he was doing was kneading clay, not making it into any shape at all, only to see and try and do something with it.

But a few minutes later it would happen again.

After a while, he felt it was safe to look at the clock, and blinked in surprise to see it had been two hours since he left, and still there was no sign of Angel. Panic gripping his throat, he forced himself to be calm and tried to think it over calmly. She could be busy with something; heading straight here. But nothing would keep her busy for _two hours._ Then abruptly he remembered something she had said when they had first met; that if he needed anything, all he needed to do was contact her by mind and she'd come. He wasn't sure how to try it, but decided to give it a shot and see how it turned out, closing his eyes and thinking of Angel, calling out a greeting in his mind. And although he felt another presence in his mind, nothing responded. There was no sign that she was responding. Whether that was because she was dead, unconscious or sleeping, he didn't know. But it was strange enough for him to go and check it out.

He got up instantly and left everything he had been working on where it was for the second time in two days. Most times he cleared everything up so no one would have to do any work, but the last couple of days it hadn't mattered. Tidiness wasn't exactly on the top of his list when people's—_Angel's_—life was in danger. Glancing back so—well, for a reason he didn't understand—he then shook it off and continued on, passing through the doorway and walking down the corridor a few paces before he realised what exactly he was insinuating doing.

He'd decided to go and look for Angel in a mansion. Without, I might add—a definite I-can-easily-make-my-way-around-here mindset.

Not to mention without a definite coordinate for Angel's position. She could be anywhere.

But he had to look, even with all these doubts in his head. It might take him hours, but it would be worth it to make sure she was alright. He had no idea what he was going to say if she _was_ fine, but he'd think about that when the time came. What was important now was actually _finding_ her. He was looking in every room, speed-walking down the hallways at first, before passing by the entrance hall and remembering how the big the place was. This ultimately sped up his search, seeing him sprint around the house, checking every corner for her presence. Eventually, after having run for about 15 miles all around the house, he headed towards the emptier side of the building; what must have been the servant's quarters at some point or other when a ton of people used to live in the house. This was the part he knew nothing whatsoever about, but it was spread over a smaller area. It would be easier to find her...if she _was_ here.

Corridor after corridor, room after room turned out empty, and Deidara was starting to lose the will to live. Ideas of her being kidnapped, hit, or harmed in any way all popped up into his head, and he accepted those thoughts more than others—the images of his former nightmare ones that he'd choose last over any others. So he might be thinking about her being kidnapped—_raped_, even—but at least he wasn't thinking about the unusual sensation of the dream. He had known it had been weird the very moment he had it. But he'd never been sure what it meant. Though now things had been occurring the way they had...he was starting to be afraid that it might have some sort of foresight, and that there was a chance of it coming true.

Something which caused him to speed up as he ran, his eyes darting around frantically as his heart beat increased to what he felt must be at least 300 bpm (beats per minute, if anyone wants to know). Really unsure what to do now, he ran into the one last section of the house, hoping; _praying_ that she would be there. That his search was over and he could relax and know she was safe. Sprinting down the last part, he glanced to the side as he passed, checking slightly just in case he saw anything while he started at the back, when he saw something unusual in the corridor. Something that he wasn't sure should be there. A sight that pretty much made his heart skip a beat, and he automatically skidded to a halt, recollecting his breathing, as well as his memory, trying to remember if what he had seen had been Angel. But he knew if there _was_ a chance of it being her, he had to find out, and do it quickly. He'd experienced firsthand her teleportation skills in the blink of an eye.

Turning and heading back, he actually went into the corridor this time, almost fainting as he saw her there. A wave of relief swept over him that was so much he had to place his hand against a wall and stop for a minute. He'd never felt that big a sense of it before, and seeing her there just made a manic grin spring out on his face. He was about to go over and let out a big greeting, accompanied by tackling her with a hug, while he stated how worried he'd been and how glad he was to see she was okay, when what she was doing occurred to him and the grin slipped off. He'd been so happy to know she wasn't dead or unconscious that he hadn't actually noticed what was going on around her. She was mopping the floor. And not only that, but still in one of her amazing dresses. Why, he didn't know. A house as big as hers clearly needed a lot more work than one person, and definitely not a person like her. Not with her abilities. Not with her personality, her looks...

Shaking that idea off as he stared strangely at her, he pushed himself off the wall and called out to her as he walked, her head instantly snapping up, but not with any form of happiness on her face. No glint in her eyes...nothing. Her eyes had been filled with shock and almost fear when he called out to her. And though remaining looking at him, none of the joyful emotion he had seen when talking before appeared. A small smile was there, but it wasn't even sad. It was just...a way to try and show people that she was fine. Something that clearly wasn't evident. She was using her bangs to hide her face, and kept her arms close to herself as a way to shrink further and further away from him. He would never have done anything to hurt her, and thought she knew that, but still there seemed like something had happened which was making her doubt everyone.

"I'm sorry, Deidara-sama," She blurted in apology, bowing deeply afterwards, then adding, "I've been busy, that's why I couldn't come."

Trying to keep the atmosphere light, Dei smiled and replied,

"That's fine, Angel-chan. But...I couldn't even contact you by mind, un!"

Looking down at her feet, she shrugged it off, and mumbled,

"I've been thinking. Sorry, Deidara-sama."

"What are you doing down here, un?" He quickly shot in, trying to direct it away from anything that made her act like that.

"My—my room's just down the corridor." She merely said in explanation, causing Deidara to frown in confusion at what she'd said. All the rooms he'd seen were incredibly tiny, most likely for the whole 'servant' idea he'd had. There were tons more rooms like his own that were massive and amazingly decorated with anything you could possibly want, and he'd always gathered that because she was one of the main people who lived there, she'd get an even _bigger_ room than his own, if it was actually possible. But now that he knew where she was staying, his face turned into a glare. Bokun was the only one who could have forced her to stay there. He'd hated the way he spoke to her; glared at her. But treating her like he was...his anger was building up already.

"I'll see you around, then, Angel, un." Deidara then said quietly in goodbye, turning and leaving with the glare still on his face, Angel watching him go, unable to say anything in return to his facial expression; his attitude. She knew how he was feeling towards Bokun, and she didn't want him to get hurt. Walking swiftly into her own room and into the bathroom, she splashed water on her face to calm herself down, thinking everything over and trying not to panic.

But then she lifted up her face and looked into the mirror, her bangs having been pushed back to reveal a black eye that still ached if she touched it. Whatever Bokun had noticed them doing or finding out, he didn't want her to get in the way. Which is why he'd stopped her from seeing Deidara. It merely hindered their progress. If he'd done that to her to stop them talking together...what would he do to _them_? But clenching her fists and allowing a determined, albeit sad, glare to appear on her face, she nodded at the figure in the mirror.

When the time was right, she was going to do something, whether Bokun liked it or not.


	13. Chapter 13

He was having another dream.

It wasn't as traumatic as the last one; true, but it was still one of those dreams.

This time, he was in the art studio. He had clay all over him, and knew he didn't have to be anywhere. No Sasori, no looking for riddles, no nothing. Just free time to experiment with bombs. And although he couldn't see her, Deidara knew Angel was there. The kind of presence that fluttered behind his shoulder, never quite intervening and introducing herself, but there all the same. It never faded from his knowledge, but it never came any closer, either. His dream self wasn't particularly bothered with this, a grin plastered over his face, and remained with his clay sculptures, paying no attention to anything that might be going on outside the room.

But suddenly it was what was _inside_ the room that was interesting Deidara. There were no usual things that he used for battle; no birds, no spiders, no animals of any kind to use in any situation. Just...her. Every single sculpture sitting around the room was of Angel. None of them were serious or sad, or even angry. They were all happy. All of her smiling and like she was carefree. They were to the front, to the sides, even behind him. He was surrounded by sculptures of her, and somehow it felt good. He felt safe. Like she was there, helping him out and just generally being by his side. And he was making more and more of them.

Though he knew none of them were as perfect as she truly was.

The entire atmosphere of the dream was amazing; one that altered from the first greatly, and was a fantastic relief from what it had been. He wasn't sure if he could take seeing something like that again. Not now he'd got to know her. Become good friends with her. Care about her in every single way possible, and want to do anything to keep her safe. He'd wake up properly crying next time, and stay by her twenty-four/seven, just to check she was okay at every hour of every day. But this one seemed...different. Not without a tension that appeared to be hovering over the whole thing, waiting to strike, but even then, he could feel it wouldn't be so severe. Something would stop it from ruining everything he'd ever built up in life.

Like...it would all be okay.

Then the tension showed up in the form of someone at his door, and barely able to tear his gaze away from the sculptures of Angel, Deidara turned to face Sasori, who stood there looking completely reluctant to come in. The look on his face made it seem like someone was holding a kunai to his chest and forcing him to do so. Not to mention, although Sasori was emotionless as could be normally, there was an unmistakable look of utter confusion and almost guilt in his eyes, something Deidara immediately paused at, his grin disappearing. The sculptures at this point seemed to move in closer, like he instantly thought of her when it came to something going wrong, especially with Sasori's expression being how it was.

Then he spoke, and though he could clearly see it was him, the voice that came out wasn't his. It wasn't Bokun's, it wasn't Leader's; it wasn't anyone he could think of. If anything, it was almost...feminine. And it wasn't a complete order. It was halfway there, as if he didn't _want_ to say it, but he _had_ to for some unknown reason. Deidara's mind was so clouded with unattractive thoughts that he didn't even hear what Sasori said, only that his body complied, albeit so slowly and hesitantly it seemed like he was barely moving at all. Though once he was out the door, everything moved fast. Extremely fast. The halls sped past him, and all in reverse as he watched the art studio slip away from him, along with the sculptures of Angel.

The next thing he noted was both Sasori's and his own room, the doors slamming shut, everything how it had been when they arrived. Once again he remained looking at the doors as they flew backwards, and into the entrance hall. Now he was faced with the mirror another time, this time seeing wings in it. Wings that faced backwards, stopping him from seeing any detail of the person in the slightest, but where their head was turned he could see an eye, though without more light or both of them stepping forward there was no way he could make out any detail of it. But there was something he could see;

A tear.

A tear running off the eye, clearer than it should have been, like it was running down the mirror as well as the person itself. Like it was sad that they were leaving. Deidara held up a hand in protest, wanting to ask if they could comfort them, having seen the sorrow in its eyes, but couldn't force up the sound in his throat. Sasori stood watching, not making him go, but at the same time not letting him stand closer to the mirror. In the end, it wasn't anyone's choice, and he moved backwards as fast as he had done through the halls, the huge doors slamming shut with a huge bang that echoed out in to the silence, locking him out from them.

And still he kept moving.

Only now everything was moving so rapidly that he couldn't make out where he was. Whether it was the mansion, the town, the hideout where they'd come from...he didn't know. He tried again and again to pick out details, but upon finding one thing that would help him put together an idea of one surrounding, it would change and be replaced with another. The images were overwhelming, and soon he had to shut his eyes and clench his fists, hoping they'd disappear sooner or later. Only when they did, they did so in a way he hadn't really been expecting. Because it was dark. Not in the sense that there was nothing, and he was just standing stationary in the dark; because he wasn't.

He could still feel the movement of them walking. They were still moving, only this time, he couldn't see a thing. Now he could hear rain. Heavy rain. The kind he and Sasori had been walking through when they came to the area in the first place. Suddenly they passed a marker that he _did_ see in the endless darkness. A candle holder set out to remember someone who had died. A second after seeing it and a huge blast of the static electricity-like feeling hit him full on, and blinking in surprise, everything came back in full colour as he heard something ring out.

Something that was similar; but not quite in the same way.

A cry screamed out; angry yet desperate, accompanied by an explosion. With wide eyes, Deidara ran back to the house, this time Sasori with him every step of the way. Glancing down, he saw blood on his arms and a bit on his torso, and knew it was his own, but he couldn't feel the pain. His love for Angel overrode anything that he was going through. It was her he needed to concentrate on. So he kept on running, only slowing to a halt when he came up to the doors. Feeling as dwarfed by them as he had done the first time, he stepped forward and pushed as hard as he could, sensing another body do the same. But nothing happened. They had opened the doors before with their own strength; now it appeared that they were locked, and with no way to get in.

This was proven when a voice echoed out:

"That won't work...It would take a massive force to open them..."

Panicking at this knowledge, Deidara ran through so many plans in his head, none of them seeming perfect for the situation, until he stopped on one that he knew would work. It was risky, and he didn't know what would happen to him...but he had to do it for Angel. So he threw off his Akatsuki cloak, his ring, and all his other weapons on him, and began tearing at his shirt. Sure, it might kill him, but it would get the doors open. It would let Sasori save Angel. She would be okay. He would give up his life if it meant he'd save her.

The moment this thought ran through his head the doors burst open, Deidara's attempts at undoing the stitches on his chest forgotten as he could see inside to look for her. But he didn't get the chance. The perspective changed, along with the surroundings, and now they were in a room. Sparse, but still comfortable, Deidara was looking over her as she lay in bed, scratched here and there, a few bandages around...but overall alright. And while he watched her eyes fluttered, she moaned quietly, and then she opened her eyes, looking around while blinking at everything going on. Upon seeing Deidara, however, she calmed down entirely, smiling sweetly at him and whispering a gentle greeting as he sat there.

Now he knew. His intuitive feeling at the beginning of the dream had been right.

It really was all okay.


	14. Chapter 14

He wasn't feeling normal.

Usually Sasori didn't care what Deidara did in any shape or form, as long as he didn't blow anything up or be so stupid that it would endanger the mission. He often was, but still. But lately things had changed slightly, and he _was_ starting to care. When Deidara had been getting so concerned over Angel and everything going on with Bokun, he felt the need to ask what was wrong, get into a conversation about what he was feeling even though normally he would have left things as they were, not caring what Deidara thought or felt. Then he was strangely—emotional, if it could be said—of what was happening with Angel, Bokun, and now, the rune, and things were only heightened with the new information. But still, he couldn't fight the inevitable...

They'd have to leave soon.

Sasori himself felt reluctant to do so, with what had happened, right from the beginning, and that Bokun, Angel, the house...they were all connected to the rune somehow. But they had no concrete proof. If they needed to stay, they'd have to find something else that would allow them to; otherwise the mission might as well be over. Sasori found himself searching more thoroughly for something to keep them there. A search that continued out of the library as well. They could still stay in the area while searching for it—it was clear the rune was here—but even Sasori knew they might as well be leaving the River Country altogether. There was just too much of the unknown to truly know how to act upon leaving the house. No matter how hard they tried to make it otherwise. Sasori knew Angel was keeping things from Deidara—something he understood as well. Whether Deidara knew that closer he got to her, the more she pulled away in an effort to protect him, he didn't know. But she wasn't going to be revealing anything. If she did there'd be a conflict. One which Sasori wasn't sure of.

But he had to tell Dei.

So, for the first time during their stay in the mansion, Sasori got up from the library, and began to walk. It took him longer than he thought it would, whether through speed or just by turning the wrong purposefully, but he couldn't fight it much longer, and soon found himself outside the door. Edging closer into the room, he said nothing until Deidara finally turned round, smiling and greeting him, albeit more fatigued than usual. His eyes were tired; his face was strained from all that he was trying to do with Angel. Sasori had known about the dreams he had had; he tossed and turned in his sleep as he had them, and it was obvious he would hear them. And he was wearing the effects of his dreams right out there on his face. It wouldn't affect his fighting skills; the majority of his fatigue attacking his mind, but it affected him still. And he had more to come.

Deidara knew it had been coming that very morning. He knew Sasori had put it off until the last minute, and was extremely grateful for that. But it was the inevitable. And it had come. It wasn't like he could fight it in any sense. Not only would it be fruitless, but he did not have the mental energy to do so. He felt so drained of life he felt like agreeing with everything that was put to him. Sasori's words included. The look on his face as he turned round to greet him was exactly the same as it had been in his dream, albeit without the happy feeling that had been there at the start.

Maybe that had been there to cushion him.

A bit of driftwood acting as hope to cling onto as he drifted into a sea of despair.

Though once again nothing lasted forever. That driftwood had to break; to erode away and leave him with nothing.

The cushioning feeling could only shield him for so long.

And then what would he do?

Sasori's words poured out, starting as facts, trying to turn into something that would comfort him, only to realise he was making no sense. Either that, or he trailed off into silence at the look on Deidara's face, and in his eyes. Or lack of it. Deidara was never a completely emotionless person. Sure, he didn't run around hyper squealing like a little child 24/7—it was only for a few hours of the day—but he didn't bottle everything up. If there was something bothering him, he'd let it show. But not now. There was nothing there. Not one scrap of emotion that would reveal if he was angry about his decision, or upset at them having to leave, or anything.

And so he finished up with a few mumbles, and then stated simply,

"You knew, Deidara."

"I knew," He replied, nodding apathetically, Sasori's statement rousing no reaction from him,

"I knew when things started getting worse. Before you probably even knew. We were deep in the research; had found so much stuff on the rune but couldn't put it together. And I knew we'd need something. A...key, of some sorts. And we wouldn't find it here."

Their silence remained in place for a few good minutes, nothing ever changing on either of their faces. But eventually Sasori stood, stating he needed to collect up all the information they _did_ have, and think about where to go next to fit it all together. Deidara nodded, turning back to the clay—which Sasori noticed was barely touched—without so much as a goodbye, halting only when he called out softly,

"Do you want me to tell Angel...or shall I?"

And without hesitating, Deidara answered,

"I will."

His answer was nothing Sasori hadn't been expecting, but it was the way he said it that was affecting him slightly. His voice went deeper; there was so much hate and sadness and anger in it...but somehow without a trace of emotion in his voice at all. For once in his life, he felt so unsure about what to do, or better yet, about what was happening to Deidara, and as such had to remain a silent presence in the background. A fate which he could do nothing but to accept, and left soon after, as quietly as he appeared.

Deidara wanted him to come back; wanted Angel to appear; wanted to be alone...he didn't know. He craved Angel, wanting to see her for one last time, see if she would be okay—for the most part—and at least try and spot if she would be upset about them leaving. But at the same time, he knew if he saw her he wouldn't know what to do. He'd cried in his dream when seeing Angel die, but leaving her alone would probably have the same effect. He wanted someone to talk to about it—most likely going to be Sasori—but still desired to be alone and debate about so many things in his head. And with the idea that Angel would probably be turning up soon...he returned to poking his clay without actually turning it into anything. It was all he could do to hold on to the hope of the dream, and close his eyes as he thought about it, smiling absentmindedly at the happiness that had filled him as he had had it. That was what he wanted. To live with that feeling constantly.

Only he couldn't.

Because he was leaving her.

When there was something really wrong, and ultimately got worse as he had stayed there.

And he knew he'd be the one standing on the other side of the mirror.

But when it came down to it...

Would anything ever really be okay?


	15. Chapter 15

Fortunately, she came. Maybe it was _un_fortunately, but he couldn't be certain. All he could was watch as she came in, her wings unfurled and having to bend and twist to get through the doorway. An action that did nothing but bring a small smile to his face, thinking of the irony of seeing her full beauty on the day he'd have to tell her he was leaving the next day. The memory of him thinking she was called Angel because she truly looked like one with her beauty and her wings came back to him, causing the small smile to stay, at least for a while, anyway.

She immediately greeted him softly, then swiftly apologised for her being late and for causing him hassle with Sasori. Deidara merely brushed it off, having not been noticing the time all day, wherever he was, and merely spoke about her wings being unfolded as she stood there. Angel then explained quietly that she had had to go into the town, and it was quicker if she flew, before apologising again, turning round and starting to fold them away. As she did so, they juddered at first, slowly moving and decreasing in size, and then speedily disappeared into her back.

Once they were gone, her back was revealed, her hair pulled to one side to stop it getting caught in her wings. But by pulling back her hair, she revealed a tattoo in between the top of her back and the back of her neck that Deidara had never seen before, and one that she had never mentioned or talked about with him. The symbol that adorned her back seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it and stayed staring at it for a few minutes to try and recollect where it was from. He opened his mouth slightly to question about it, when she turned round and he quietened upon remembering what he was going to be doing. Angel came over slowly, Deidara watching every step and she sat down next to him. His heart was beating so fast, and his emotions were overwhelming him, but he had to say it. And he had to say it now. He could spend a little while with her; but what happened the last time he saw her had stressed him, and it wouldn't be the same.

So when Angel called his name timidly a second time, asking if he was okay although knowing the truth, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so and deciding to keep them there as he started his confession. Once he got started, he wouldn't be able to stop, but beginning the statement was going to be one of the hardest parts. Several deep breaths later, he felt he was bordering on being able to speak without bursting into tears, and told Angel he had something to tell her. With his eyes still closed, he couldn't see the expression on her face; it was better that way. She didn't reply at first, but then merely stated,

"Go on."

Hearing a difference in her voice, he viciously forced himself to forget it for the moment, and focused on telling her what was going on, and with one last deep breath, blurted,

"We're leaving tomorrow, Angel-chan. I don't know how early or anything, but I guess it will be relatively early, un."

Finally managing to open his eyes, he looked to see her eyes glued to the floor nodding slowly and continuously, an unsure emotion in her eyes. He paused, wondering whether to speak up now or let her think, he eventually decided to ask if she was okay, wanting to take the firm hand in this, only to find himself whispering,

"Are you okay?"

Angel simply nodded once more, more definite this time, and looked up at him, passing his eyes and looking to the ceiling, replying,

"I should've known this was coming. I should've—I guess I always knew it was coming. I just..." Sighing, she shrugged, finding no more words to say to this, adding with a sad smile,

"It'll be weird not having you around anymore. Having such a big house, it was almost a relief to have more people here. This house is always screaming out for them."

Looking into her eyes now, their eye contact locked and stayed in place. The emotion all came out in their eyes, if it wasn't going to be coming out on their faces. It was all they could do to stare, knowing they loved each other. Knowing they wouldn't be happy unless they were around each other. And no knowing it was broken. And he'd probably never see her again. Along with the fact she'd probably be beaten to a pulp by the time he left the area. Bokun would never treat her neutrally anymore; she was practically becoming a punch bag; something they both knew was going on. She knew he'd seen her black eye. He knew that's why she called him danna. And they could do nothing about it. They'd become spectators in their own lives.

And it was breaking their hearts.

"I guess this will be the last time we see each, other, huh?" Deidara finally breathed, another small smile joining another.

And the mood became resolute. They couldn't do anything to change it. It was almost their destiny, their fate...whatever you want to call it. But it was unstoppable. So they merely had to put up with it, and try and be strong while remaining in the house. If the other saw how upset they were at Deidara leaving, then it would catch on. They had to stay impassive for the remainder of the stay. When they got out, they could be as depressed as they liked. But for the sake of each other, they kept it back. It was the least they could do, when it came down to it.

On a whim, Angel suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it with another smile, albeit one that was trying considerably harder to be happier than she felt. Deidara squeezed it back in return, helping her out by giving a smile that was trying just as hard to remain upbeat. Something that was tested as Deidara whispered,

"I'm gonna miss our conversations, un."

He wanted to hug her. Move in closer. Kiss her. Do anything that would involve more physical contact than what he was doing right now. But doing so would make pulling away harder. Kissing was completely out of the question, even though he felt stronger about her than he had ever felt about someone else. It was a bigger step through their relationship, and all it would do was show him how good it could be, how good he wanted—no, _craved_—it to be, and then take it away in a second to never have it again. He couldn't take that. He'd just have to hold back from doing anything. Sure, doing his dream goodbye would be a big relief, letting out all the emotions that he'd been keeping inside of him for the duration of his stay.

But then again, it would ultimately make things worse.

They both understood this staring intensely into each other's eyes. Maybe they both knew of their feelings for each other. Maybe not. But the tension managed to get to a point where Angel had to break away, saying she should probably get going and finish some stuff. Though as Deidara stood as well, holding out his hand as a way of saying goodbye, he knew it was the only thing he could do that wouldn't cause him to cry all the way back to the nearest hideout. Angel smiled and nodded, taking the hand, wincing at the fact the tongue on his hand licked hers and made it tickle. The only time she wanted to have had that feeling was upon holding his hand, not with a handshake.

But still she let go and walked to the door, looking over her shoulder to say goodbye one last time, wanting to laugh at the fact their goodbye had probably been the least emotional goodbye in the entire universe, even though they were such good friends. Maybe even more. She added that he should say goodbye to Sasori for her as well, and then...walked out. Another sign something was wrong. She always teleported. It had never changed. But now...things were different. And all he could do was concentrate on her disappearing back.

She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. But he had no idea what to do with himself now knowing the ultimate dream of being with her on a regular basis had died with a complete crash.

But he had to face the truth.

He had no choice.

He was never going to be with her.


	16. Chapter 16

It had been a few hours since they had said goodbye, and all Angel had done since was pace her room, thinking about what she had made herself promise the other day. She had told herself that when the time was right, she was going to do something. To help them. Yet upon hearing that news...she hadn't done a thing. She knew she _had_ to, but the idea that Deidara was leaving had stopped her in her tracks. She should have kept the idea that one day he would have to leave fresh in her mind, but when she talked to him, joked with him...it was all forgotten, and all she could concentrate on was being with him in the moment. Reflecting on her memories, she knew she had done the right thing. Always thinking of the day when he'd be gone would have just ruined things.

If they hadn't been ruined enough already with Bokun's influence.

Sasori had told him while she had been talking to Deidara. She didn't blame him; just walking out would seem pretty suspicious, and with how she knew they felt towards Bokun, and how he felt towards _them,_ it would only provoke a response from him, and then things would get worse. Much worse. Angel knew he was planning something now. He knew they had gathered a lot of information, and now all they needed to do was piece it together. But with a slightly unexpected departure date, he had to hasten his plan along. What Bokun's goal was, she didn't know. To kill them, to lock them up...the possibilities were endless. And none of them were good.

It was going to happen tonight, or early tomorrow morning. Sasori and Deidara knew he had always been lurking in the background, keeping an eye on them, but they didn't truly know what was going on with him. Only she did. She couldn't tell them, even now; the only place it would be safe to tell them something like that was miles away from here. Maybe then—maybe there—they would be safe of Bokun's dominion over the town. Maybe then they could understand. But not unless they made it out of here alive. Which would be slightly more difficult with the fact they were leaving tomorrow. Stopping suddenly, she clenched her fists and slammed them to her head, scowling with her eyes closed at everything in front of her. She was being ridiculous. There was no point trying to think about Bokun's plan involving Deidara and Sasori, and what the plan itself involved, as he was always so very secretive. He hated her, and never told her a thing, so therefore nothing would make sense.

But then it came to her.

Cursing herself mentally, Angel finally realised what she had to do, and how stupid she had been for the last few hours just pacing up and down, thinking about the wrong thing entirely. She knew Bokun was speeding up his plan. However, _he_ might not know about Deidara and Sasori speeding up their departure date even further. It made sense; he was too busy figuring out what to do with them to now notice they'd be leaving tonight. All Bokun thought about their opinion on him was that he was a bit suspicious and elusive. He had no idea that they really felt he was up to something, and were always on guard. So he wouldn't suspect them doing anything to hide their leaving from him to get away from the area. It was perfect. Reckless, stupid, insane, yes, but perfect all the same.

So she got hurt because of it.

Two people surviving is better than one.

Opening her eyes with her epiphany, she closed them momentarily once more to take a deep—albeit it slightly shaky—breath for courage, and then turned and left her room, moving as fast as she could. There was no need to fear Bokun; he had disappeared off, like he always did when waiting for the perfect moment, and she was free to run about the halls without anyone's knowledge of her doing it. One slight advantage to being one of the only people living in a house that big. And she had to be fast. Bokun could surface at any time to complete the last part of his plan, and she didn't have much time to keep either of them safe. She just prayed to anyone that would listen that it might work.

Deidara remained sitting morose on his bed, in the same position he had been when he had left the art studio. He wasn't sure if he could make himself leave. His mind was spilt with knowing he _had_ to leave, but still _needing_ to stay. His body was changing every few seconds or so, causing him to stand up to go and talk to Angel; to Sasori, and say he was staying, and the next minute he'd be laying down, trying to get to sleep to pass the time. But if he hadn't been upset over leaving Angel, he would have been angry. Bokun, upon hearing the news, had said he would be 'sorry to see them go' and hoped everything had been alright during their stay, and that tomorrow would be okay to leave.

It was clearly obvious something was up, considering the fact that was the second time Sasori had seen Bokun over the entire stay; and the third for Deidara. How he could be sorry to see them go without meeting them more than a couple of times—in which he stayed for about two seconds—was ridiculous. Now seeing his attitude once again after the art studio incident, it was utterly clear his welcoming and friendly persona was completely fake. Why he had ever thought it was genuine, he had no idea. He had manipulated and lied to Angel as well as himself, although she must have had to put up with it a lot longer than he had.

Maybe that was why he had to stay.

Sasori had mentioned the fact something was going on with Bokun—well, even more than usual—once he had said they were leaving to him. Number one, Sasori couldn't find him anywhere around the mansion, although he had searched most of it, until the moment Deidara had finished talking to Angel. The second she must have mentioned they were leaving to Bokun, being able to do so through her telepathy, he turned up, allowing Sasori to say a "goodbye", so to speak. If they needed help, he never appeared, but when they left...when it was things to do with their research...then he arrived as soon as he could. With the knowledge that they were leaving tomorrow, he had started to do something. It might have something including them, including Angel, including anything that was to do with any of them.

Not that he'd be of any help.

Deidara had noted Sasori's change in attitude at the fact they were leaving, and knew the look on his face well when he came in through the door of the art studio from his recent dream. But whereas normally it might have affected him, in the situation now, that fact never stayed in his thoughts for a moment. It merely flickered past. If he was in a fight that was to do with anything else but Angel, he'd be pretty much useless. Sure, he'd fight, but wouldn't be paying close attention to any sneak attacks, and probably end up with an injury of some sort. Sasori may have changed slightly, but not enough to decrease the chance of remaining unscathed.

But he knew what he _did_ want to fight about.

And with that thought in mind, he couldn't take it anymore. His mind had been spending the day choosing between staying with the original plan to move on, leave to find the rune, finish the mission and leave her behind; persuade Sasori to stay a little longer and see how things turned out with Bokun and Angel, not knowing what Bokun was planning, or stay and confront Bokun about what he _had_ done and what he _was_ doing to Angel and planning about them. But he had to decide what to do at some point or other.

And he had.

He might love Angel. He'd considered it for a while, and had wanted to remain around to see how it went; see if the feeling grew. But he'd never got the chance. He needed her to be around; to be _alive_ if he wanted to understand what was going on in his head—and possibly in his heart. And by sitting around and taking things as they came wasn't going to solve anything. So he was going to find Angel and make this situation come to a head. Then things would get solved and the situation could move on for the better. So standing up, he marched over to the door and pulled it open, only to slow to a halt, and all ideas of fighting back falling into silence as he saw her standing outside.

"Angel, un," He breathed, surprised and confused at what was going on.

"You have to leave. Now," She merely responded.


	17. Chapter 17

Deidara wasn't quite sure what was going on.

A moment ago he had been sitting on his bed, wondering whether to go with Sasori's plan and leave tomorrow or stay and help Angel, when the next thing he knew he was being dragged out of his room, along with Sasori, and being told to leave. At first it hit him quite hard, seeing the serious expression on her face, and could do nothing but nod along as Angel told him of how Bokun thought it would be best if they left tonight, considering the village not liking them and the fact that it would be quicker to leave during the night as there were less people.

Sasori was suspicious that this was a true fact, but merely an excuse, but he trusted Angel, in a sort of left-handed kind of way, and so left things where they were for the moment. Whatever would help to stop this build up of tension—of suspicion—and let everything breathe. If they spent some time away, but remaining in the area, then if any of the riddles and information on the runes began to make sense, they might be able to come back with a little less opposition in terms of hiding things from them and being all mysterious about everything to do with the house.

At least then one of them could check up on Angel.

But it was an idea he'd think about later, as Angel continued dragging them both through the corridors, knowing exactly where she was going and her mind set on the destination. Deidara was too shocked and overwhelmed with so many different emotions running through his head that had been there for so long to think about strange circumstances or what would happen later. All he could think about was that Angel was telling him to leave. And being quite forceful about it. And as such he merely trudged on, in a deep trance that was ultimately making him act like a zombie throughout the entire process.

But eventually she halted in the entrance hall, nodding towards the doors and gesturing for them to leave through them. It was only then that both of them managed to realise what was really going on. Deidara's trance had gone completely, and though Sasori had been considering several things, they had just been in the background of his subconscious. It was only now that they were fully coming to the surface. Sasori thanked her, albeit reluctantly, trying to postpone leaving as much as possible. But Angel wouldn't listen, and kept on pushing that they leave.

"Good luck with your research. I hope you find what you're looking for, in the end." She continued, firm in her idea that they'd be leaving soon, but trying to hide—to _smother_—her hesitation to allow them to do so.

"Well, it's gonna be hard. We might have to—" Deidara cut in, only for Angel to shake her head, and put this fact down by replying,

"If you haven't found the exact details you're looking for after spending hours in there for days, do you really think coming back will do anything more?"

Blinking in surprise at all her protests to them remaining here for a minute longer, Deidara looked down in confusion and sadness, not understanding what she was doing and hating that fact. Sasori, at this point, held back the urge to state they'd still be in the area, somehow knowing that she'd push them ever further away from the town for a reason unknown. With how they were leaving, both Deidara and Sasori now knew she wanted to put as much distance between them as possible, but not because of bad feeling. Their suspicions—their instincts—were flaring up, and it made them want to stay. Before it might have caused them to do so, but with Angel so set on their rapid departure, they practically had no choice in the matter.

"Come on. You should head off now. The sooner the better, right?" She said almost bitterly.

Falling into silence, Deidara looked over at her after her words and as she looked up, his gaze didn't move away. Sadness was all that filled her eyes, but there was a determination that was added to it, one that was hiding the truth of what was going on with their leaving and her concrete resolve of making them do it. They stayed that way for a few minutes, almost in an attempt to make their thoughts known, but without the words to do so. Instead it brought about the eeriness of the house back in full force, and a regret that they knew they'd feel-and feel the rest of their lives—once they left the building and went on without each other.

Something they felt that they might not be able to do.

Then Angel broke their gaze first, looking over at Sasori, knowing if she looked back into his eyes to see the emotion there, she'd just try and make them stay a little longer. And she couldn't do that. Not when them leaving now was the only chance she had of keeping them safe. At least they'd be alive, even though she knew she'd be upset; incredibly so.

Especially with everything that was going to happen afterwards...

Then finally, with the pace of a snail, Sasori and Deidara turned, slowly walking away and through the doors, something Angel opened for them, much quieter than they themselves had done when they had first arrived. Another memory brought up by the simplest things to swim around in Deidara's head. Sasori forced himself to shake off everything that was happening in his head, and continued on, saying a quick goodbye and starting forward. Deidara couldn't say goodbye. Saying goodbye would confirm it. Not to mention there was nothing he could say that would reveal how much he was going to miss her. How much he cared for her in the first place. So he had to let it go. Even though he would have given up anything to stay with her.

Walking fully through the doors now, Deidara had to say something. He didn't halt, but merely turned to look at her over his shoulder, and said regretfully,

"I wish I could've stayed longer, Angel, un."

Before looking forward to the path ahead of him. By this time, neither of them could bring themselves to look back, and left Angel standing behind them in the entrance hall, alone. Staring at the floor in despair, hating everything and wishing it would disappear, wanting to embrace her near future with passion, now having nothing to lose and nothing wanting her to keep going. It didn't matter anymore. They were safe. _That _was what mattered. Things would be better now, and she'd be free. Bokun wouldn't be able to do anything else to her anymore.

But she wouldn't be with him.

Overwhelmed with grief, her head hung low as her gaze remained firmly on the floor as she waited for them to leave. Her arms reflexively wrapped around herself, wanting comfort, wanting warmth—while lacking both—but never having felt more alone in her life. Willing her chakra into existence half-heartedly, the doors slowly and silently closing on the image of Deidara and Sasori, Angel unable to do anything but whisper in return to his statement,

"I wish you could've too, Dei-kun. Goodbye."

With that, she quickly unwrapped her arms from her body and pressed them to her mouth, just in case either of them would hear her sobs of unhappiness and turn back. She tried to smother them, to stop that from happening, but they wouldn't stop. Her eyes were clamped shut and her body wracked with sobs of agony and despair. With tears streaming down her face, the doors finally slammed silently shut, and she uncovered her mouth.

Unleashing one last cry of pure anguish into the silent air.


	18. Chapter 18

They kept walking, and their pace never changed.

It was still slow, still reluctant, still hating every step they both took. But they couldn't stop. If Angel thought it best that they leave, then they knew they should. They trusted her. When it came to the area, the town, the house...she knew best. She _did_ live there. Even if it seemed so wrong to Deidara, if she was resolute in her decision for them to leave, and leave now, then he would comply. She would never do anything to hurt him. She wasn't like that. She was kind, and sweet, and...

And everything he ever wanted.

Shaking his head and clenching his fists, Deidara glared furiously at the ground. He had to force her from his head. Smother memories of them together away from the surface of his subconscious and into a locked room in his mind. Just...forget about her completely. Even though—with a sigh and a relaxing of his muscles—that it would never happen. He could go anywhere, travel to the opposite ends of the earth. But it wouldn't stop how he felt about her. Just alter the way he saw things. Alter the choices he made in the future. All things that would be without Angel, but still be influenced by her. At least that way he could salvage some of her essence to always be with him.

Trudging on, heavy rain began to fall, and the static electricity like feeling he had experienced upon entering the area and the town came back, stronger than ever. Maybe it was feeding off all his emotions, maybe it was a way of trying to make him go back to see her, he didn't know. But he had to ignore it, and walk side by side with Sasori through the darkened buildings and continue out through the town, and out into the wilderness, where they'd find the rune and go back to the nearest hideout to get their next assignment. All without a second thought to Angel.

"She'll be fine, Deidara. She has ninja abilities; amazing ones. You're the one who saw them first hand. If there's any trouble, she can deal with it," Sasori suddenly spoke up, the sentence almost bursting out of him with venom, only for him to realise it was night time and pretty much the entire town was asleep, and quietened down to a not-quite-whispering sound.

Now looking up at Sasori, finally managing to drag his gaze off the floor as they walked, he looked at him in complete confusion as to what the hell he was thinking. Rolling his eyes at his utter ignorance and lack of ability to comprehend emotions, he shook his head and scowled at him, saying simply in return, with his voice showing all of the amount of anger that was everywhere else on his body and in his eyes,

"Even people with tons of power can be taken for granted, Sasori-danna. Even armies, un. Take the Uchiha clan, for instance. They were the most powerful clan in Konoha, with an extremely powerful kekkai genkai. Then came Itachi, and look what happened then, un. Angel might have untold abilities, some that might even be greater than the ones she told me, but if someone takes you from behind, then there is no hope for anyone, un."

After his snarling return to Sasori's words, Deidara's gaze once again returned to the ground, the anger in his eyes slowing fading and becoming apathy. Narrowing his eyes at Deidara's sudden aggressiveness, Sasori threw his hands up in the air and looked away, hiding his uncomfortable feeling that came with Deidara's abrupt change in attitude. Nothing was going to work for him as the mission—and the ones that came after—went on, and he'd still remain the same. He'd either be incredibly aggressive or morose and melancholy to the max. The silence did nothing to help it, and trying to convince Deidara that Angel was fine wasn't working either. Deciding that maybe a little honesty would be better, Sasori lowered his voice even more and tried again,

"I'm hating this too, Deidara. Don't think I don't have more suspicions about Angel than a murder suspect with blood all over him and a knife in his hand. But we can extend a hand to help her—"

"You mean you would, un?" Deidara abruptly cut in, looking up quickly with hope in his eyes, only for Sasori to continue,

"Yes, but extending a hand to help someone only works if they take it. And from the looks of it, Angel isn't going to be taking that help any time soon. She might not feel fine with the situation, but she must feel certain of something if she'd going to push us away. Literally."

Sighing once more, Deidara reunited himself with the ground, the anger coming back better than ever as he shoved his hands in his pockets while he went on with his journey, nothing Sasori was saying making anything better in the slightest. If anything it was making it worse. He knew all that stuff, and he didn't want to be reminded of it. Being reminded of it didn't help him accept the entire situation. It just made him feel so guilty about it. Made his pace slow and his mind race. And he couldn't be that way. The only move he made was to glance to the side for a second as Sasori added one last remark,

"She won't let us find out, Dei. We could go back and do something, but while she's around and trying to keep us safe, there isn't anything we'll see. Even though I wish otherwise."

Blinking in surprise at his use of a nickname and the use of 'I' instead of 'we', Deidara lost all fury that he might have contained before, nodding along this time to his words. He even managed to say something back that appeared slightly more upbeat, stating,

"Well at least we'll be staying in the area."

"Yeah, but the mission doesn't help. I don't want to wait around to see what we can find. If we can find it in the first place. Because all this mission involves is ifs. All this effort for one thing." He shot back, pulling out a torn page of a book and unfolding it, revealing it to be the picture in the first book Deidara had found that was to do with the rune. Unable to hold back, Deidara slowed to a halt while looking at it, having seen it somewhere, and seen it recently. Sasori stated his name to get him moving again, but Deidara clearly wasn't in the same reality as he was. He was completely lost to the world.

Glancing up, he thought over everything over the last few days, looking towards Sasori but at the same time past him. Only doing so brought him something else that he would never have thought would affect him, a huge blast of the electricity feeling hitting him like a physical blow with his sense of Déjà Vu. A candle stood in a little niche in the wall, a name engraved below it in memory of the deceased. The flame was protected from the rain, but the slight wind was making it flicker. And soon all Deidara could focus on was the flame. In the darkness it shone out brightly, a light in the dark. Almost like a sign of hope. Like the light of a light bulb pinging on inside his head. Because now it all came together. Now it all made sense. Angel, Bokun, the house, the weird things going on, her abilities, her wings...it all became clear. He'd seen the candle in his dream. It symbolised his realisation of everything that had happened. The picture of the rune—or better yet, where he'd seen it—pieced together in his mind and reminded him of sitting behind Angel as she furled her wings back into her back, spotting the tattoo on the back of her neck.

It was of the rune.

"A gem, a treasure, an underestimated might,

With the power of darkness, but also of light.

Although unbreakable, it's more fragile than it seems,

To truly work, it needs its own beliefs and dreams.

With its help, you are stronger than the hardest steel,

In mind and body, though always concealed.

The scars and wounds will always be felt,

But to be strong, it will need to turn its healing unto itself." Deidara breathed, causing Sasori to narrow his eyes at his memory of one of the riddles. But why he was saying it, he didn't know, until Deidara came back to the present and stated undisputedly, without anything that would be changing his mind,

"We have to go back, un."


	19. Chapter 19

"Wait. What?" Sasori blurted in response to Deidara's comment, not quite understanding whether he had actually been listening to his words before, only to be answered with a fierce shake of his head.

"We need to go to the man—"Deidara began, when Sasori cut in,

"Deidara, neither of us wanted to leave, but we have to, to complete the mission. I know you care about her, but we can't go back."

Now glaring at Sasori, Deidara's fists clenched and his muscles tensed up, and taking two steps forward to be up in Sasori's face, he poked him in the chest and growled back,

"I don't care if you want to or not, but we need to go back NOW, un!"

His slight shout echoing out into the night, Sasori glared slightly in return but said nothing for a few seconds, before Deidara suddenly turned on his heel and started back up to the mansion at a sprint. Rolling his eyes at his behaviour, Sasori followed, not feeling as if he really had a choice in the matter, catching up quickly to ask,

"Why are you pushing this fact?"

"I don't have time to explain, Sasori-danna. I will later. But I swear this is important. It's crucial to the mission and we can't complete it without going back. Without her."

Looking in his eyes he knew he wasn't lying—not that he thought Deidara was a lying person in the first place—and so nodded back once curtly, and continued on, wanting the same thing he did now. He'd known Angel knew something about the rune which could be useful to them, true, but he had no idea how she was crucial to the mission. How it wouldn't be completed without her. She'd have to know something _really _big to be that important. But whatever it was, he would have to wait for it. It didn't look Deidara was in a talking mood.

Within seconds they were back at the doors, and sliding to a halt, they tentatively went closer to see if there was anyone in the entrance hall. But hearing nothing, they glanced at each other and pushed only one door open, and just open enough to slip through. Sasori was still confused as to why Deidara was being so stealthy about heading back here, even though he knew about the suspicious activity, but when the door closed behind them and the entrance hall was once again revealed to them, he knew exactly what Deidara was getting at.

There were feathers scattered everywhere, though none appeared to be covered in blood. But where the owner of the feathers was, they didn't know. It was as silent as it was when they first came to the house, but this time...it seemed wrong. Sure, the place was always silent if there was no one there. You couldn't hear rain if you came inside. You wouldn't be able to hear a storm. But this wasn't right. It was the kind of silence he had experienced in his dreams. A silence that only voiced grief or anguish. Two things Deidara didn't want to know about, and a memory of a dream he never wanted to think about again.

They took a few steps into the hall, the hairs standing up on the back of Deidara's neck while his hand automatically brushed over his bombs. He had been right to come back. He should've known something would happen when she said they should leave earlier than they first planned. Bokun hadn't even known they'd left in the first place. And now this. His heart was beating so fast as he thought about what might have happened to Angel. But he forced it back and snapped his head round to face Sasori as he breathed,

"It's too quiet. Even for a place like this."

Nodding, Deidara jerked his head to beckon Sasori, and began to follow the trail of feathers that extended down the left corridor. There were fewer down here, but they were still scattered up and down. Images of his dream; of Angel running from an unseen source turned into hallucinations, he himself hearing the footsteps, and truly seeing her run with fear on her face. Something that only made him faster. As he ran, he wasn't sure whether to thank God, thank Jashin; thank whoever up there for giving them the trail of feathers to follow to find her, or be slightly afraid that so many feathers were falling off her wings. There had to be some sort of movement, and a strong one at that, to remove that many, although there didn't seem to be any blood on them for the moment. Whatever Bokun had done, he hadn't hurt her badly enough to bloody her wings. At least, it seemed that way from the trail. By the time they reached whatever room Angel was in, it could be another matter entirely.

Then suddenly the feathers disappeared, and the corridor was completely empty. Swallowing hard, Deidara looked back to Sasori with eyes clouded by fear, wondering what he should do now, but shook it off, knowing he wouldn't give up until he found her. So turning his head back to face the corridor, he slowed his pace this time, paying attention to every sound, every sight, every sense of what was in the house, his mind aware to anything that made a change to the normality of the corridor.

Pacing slowly forward, he ignored his pumping heart and heavy breathing, quietening them both as he turned the corner and immediately spotted something, calling Sasori over and headed towards it without stopping, merely speeding up. Sasori followed, but with slight confusion, not quite understanding what it was that Deidara had seen, until Deidara went over to a certain door, and Sasori realised what it was he had been looking at, quite amazed that Deidara had even noticed it. The door was very slightly—in fact, imperceptibly—ajar, something he wouldn't have noted himself. But knowing his worry heightened his senses; he shook it off and followed him to the door.

Not bothering to enter silently, Deidara instead slammed a foot into the door, causing it to slam open, the door frame cracking and splitting with the force as he stormed into the room, pausing as he saw what was inside. Angel was sitting on the floor, having fallen from an obvious blow from Bokun, and from the looks of it, one of many. Her lip was split, her eye was black, and various cuts and bruises scattered her arms and legs. She clutched her arm to her body, possibly revealing a broken arm, also using it as a way to hold a hand to her stomach, another punch evidently having landed there, and her breathing was laboured and heavy.

Why he had thought he should go along with Angel's idea of making them leave he didn't know.

All he did know was that he was glad he'd come back.


	20. Chapter 20

Widening her eyes at their sudden appearance, she glanced between them both frantically, before looking back at Bokun, who was standing a few steps behind her, wearing a vicious glare. A glare, that although faltered for a second at their return, came back with full force as he took another step towards her as a warning for Deidara to not come any closer. But after taking this step, he kept his gaze on Deidara, and Deidara alone, and snarled,

"_You_."

Deidara responded with his own scowl, accompanied with a glare, not about to back down from saving Angel, and clenched his fists, taking in the surroundings and thinking of tactics. They were in the dining room, a place neither of them had been in, but had had it pointed out to them. He doubted Bokun had purposefully pushed her in here, but had managed to corner her in there while she must have dodged him hurting her. Once he had, she had so much fear that she must not have been able to fight back. Fortunately he had arrived pretty soon after that, thankfully at least _pausing_ the fighting for the moment.

"Back the hell away from her." Deidara spat, swapping his weight from foot to foot, ready to attack or defend Angel at the slightest sign. Angel watched as he spoke, and then flicked her gaze to Sasori, wanting questions answered, but unable to voice them at the moment, shocked that Sasori had followed Deidara back. Sasori stared back into her eyes, and then turned back to Deidara and Bokun, making it known that it was between them now, and everything that she was curious about would have to wait. This was Deidara's fight, and he would help when needed. And smothering a sigh, Angel had no choice but to accept this fact, following Sasori's action.

"Why? She deserves to be punished for what she did," Bokun shot back, abruptly turning his gaze down to Angel, and continuing,

"I told you not to get close to them. Especially to him. But you didn't listen. You didn't tell me anything they were finding out in the library about the rune. And not only that, but you told them to leave early without saying a word to me. I was lenient with you with everything else, but not that. I'm not going to let you get away with _that_."

The glare disappearing for one second, Deidara turned to look at Angel with this knowledge, finally understanding what she had been doing. What was happening now. She made them leave early to stop Bokun getting to them. All the injuries she had received from Bokun were because of him. Because she had been trying to keep them safe. If he had concentrated on the mission...kept his distance...she wouldn't be hurt now. But he couldn't think about regrets now. He had done what he had done, and though she was hurt, she was still alive. And there was still time for him to act and help out. To help save her. So bringing back his glare, he snapped his round and focused on Bokun, and growled in defence for Angel,

"Get away with _what_?You're the one who wanted in on the rune, and she didn't even know the true nature of your plan! None of us did, un! You acted like she was the one making everything worse, but if anything she _prolonged_ our stay! It was because she knew you were going to do something that she made us leave early, un! If it's anyone's fault, it's yours, un! She doesn't deserve a punishment; she's done nothing wrong!"

Taking a deep breath, Bokun's anger grew, but instead of bursting out of him, it condensed inside of him, causing him to relax slightly, but his glare grew ever colder, and it seemed much more likely he was going to do something much worse now. Deidara kept on his guard, uncertain what he would do, Sasori doing the same, but wondering whether this change in Bokun was a good thing or not. Angel merely wished that Deidara would stay back, and Sasori would follow on. Stepping forward would make Bokun hurt her, and by hurting her, Deidara would get angry, causing a massive confrontation. If she could force them back...

"Who are you to say that? You've spoken to her for a few days. You don't know her personality overall. You don't understand anything about her, about her wings, about anything! But I've known her for most of her life!" He replied simply, calmly furious at Deidara's outburst. But Deidara wasn't a person who kept his emotions hidden away from the world. If he was angry, he was going to show it. Which is why at this point he raised himself up to his full height, a low growl involuntarily omitting from his throat, and roared back at him,

"Yeah, you sure know her by treating her like shit her entire life! You know nothing about her in any shape or form, un! The only person who knows her well is _me_, and I'm not gonna let you take her away from me, un!"

His hand quickly reached into his pouch, ready to take out a bomb, his feet moving forwards to reach Angel and Bokun. Sasori turned and moved to the side, ready to defend either Deidara or Angel as he attacked, slightly concerned his anger was getting to him, but unable to do anything now. Seeing what might happened to Deidara as he decided to fight, Angel scrambled to her feet, throwing out a hand with a scream of,

"NO!"

With her screamed protest, a huge blast of chakra came with it, throwing both Deidara and Sasori backwards and onto the floor. She'd promised herself that she'd protect them when Bokun had given her that black eye, and said she'd do something when the time was right. Then they had decided to leave, and Bokun was going to hurt them. She'd made that choice then, and pushed them to leave. She just hadn't counted on them coming back to help her. Her heart was torn between being thrilled with the fact he cared about her enough to make sure she was alright, going against Sasori and the Akatsuki to come back and help her, but wanting to keep him safe after making an oath to do so when they left.

But when it came down to it, it was the latter that won out.

Thrown to the floor, Deidara winced in pain from the force, but rapidly forced his body to recover from the chakra, and flipped back up, glancing to see Sasori having done the same, and stepped forward to go for Bokun once again, this time ready for anything Angel might do to stop them from getting to him. But he never got the chance, as a second later the world fell from all around him, and he was taken back to the first night he came, and the dream he'd had. He hadn't known her; hadn't been friends with her then, but seeing the dream, waking up with tears on his face, had made him want to do everything and anything to stop that from happening. A feeling that only grew as he became closer and closer to her, and found out more about her relationship—or lack of it—with Bokun.

And now he'd failed her.

In exactly the same way, every sound faded away from his notice, and all he could focus on was her. He couldn't even see Bokun anymore; the only thing he saw was the knife extending through her torso, and the look of confused shock and pain on her face; in her eyes. Everything was as it had been. Blood began to trickle ever so slowly from her mouth, and as the knife retracted, blood poured out of the wound and onto the floor. Placing her hands to her wound, she removed them and stared at the blood, almost in confusion, looking back up at Deidara with a strange smirk. Now in slow motion, she took one step forward, and then collapsed, and although she hadn't been on a high banister like it had been before, she still hit the floor with the same amount of force. The blood having spread to her wings, the moment she fell feathers burst out from her wings and spread all around her, landing in the blood from her body.

Unable to take his eyes away from her body, Sasori widened his eyes at her injuries and turned to Deidara, seeing the look on his face, and for once in his life his mind being blank. But he didn't have time to decide what to do. The sound soon came back, and Bokun came back into his vision. He was standing above Angel's lifeless body, wanting to make sure she remained that way. Deidara glared viciously at Bokun, his eyes now shining with tears, a few leaking out to run down his face, and scowled, lunging forward.

He moved so fast Sasori could barely keep up.


	21. Chapter 21

Bokun certainly wasn't prepared for the reaction Deidara gave.

He barely had time to defend himself as Deidara appeared so rapidly at so many different points, like he was at them all at the same time. But before he could shake this fact off and continue with finishing Angel off, Deidara had grabbed several bombs from his pouch, throwing them at several specific points, some of which were to get him away from Angel, and others to injure him seriously, hopefully even fatally.

Sasori took a step back as they went off, smoke erupting from them all and covering the scene, stopping him from seeing the effects of his efforts. He wasn't entirely sure what Deidara's aim was with his attacking. He could have been getting Bokun away from Angel so he could take care of her, something shown by the tears in his eyes, but at the same time he was glaring and scowling at Bokun so furiously he could have been wanting to harm Bokun, with that being his only aim as he threw his bombs.

But as the smoke cleared, it was clear that he had been meaning to do both.

And for the moment, it seemed he had succeeded.

Deidara was crouching over Angel's body, checking her pulse. But he couldn't see Bokun. Letting Deidara deal with her injuries for the moment, he searched a little, trying to see any sign of him, but he seemed to have disappeared. No doubt for a long while. Now they were taking her, there was no point in coming back. Then a sudden call of his name jolted him out of his thoughts, and he rushed back to Deidara, seeing him peel off his Akatsuki cloak and wrapping it around her body, pressing it against the entry and exit wound to stop the bleeding, picking her up at the same time.

"We have to get her out of here, Sasori-danna. We need to get her to the hideout. _Any_ hideout. She's bleeding badly." He spluttered, wiping away his tears impatiently.

Sasori moved forward and folded her wings so it would be easier for him to pick her up, and moved with him as he ran for the hole in the wall he'd created accidentally with his bombs and sprinted through the surrounding forest, finding the town and knowing the right direction to go in. Sasori wouldn't have protested to getting Angel to a place where she would be able to be healed, not to mention the reaction it would get off Deidara, but he still wasn't quite up to date with all this information, and felt slightly out of the loop, and as such questioned,

"Deidara, what is going on? Why did you make us go back? What is it that you know that made you stop?"

Deidara didn't look over at Sasori as he continued running the only thing that changed his gaze being Angel, just checking up to see if she was okay. But after a few seconds of waiting for Deidara to check once more, Sasori called his name once more, and Deidara looked up, flicking to him and back momentarily, and replied,

"I can't...It's hard..."

But Sasori shook his head and glared firmly over at him, stating simply,

"I don't need full, every single thing details, Deidara. All I need is a few words to understand why we're taking her and why it's important to the mission."

Nodding at that statement, Deidara responded in three words what summed up why he was so concerned about this, and why he was saying she was important:

"She's the rune, un."

Blinking in complete surprise, it was enough to shut Sasori up for the rest of the journey, not comprehending any meanings of that. He was worried; in a hurry to get Angel somewhere safe with medical equipment. He could have blurted something out that wasn't what he truly meant; something that didn't entirely make sense, but had the same kind of ideas that he _did_ mean to say. Maybe he meant that Angel had the rune, in some form of bracelet or necklace. She had a headband that dangled a gem on her forehead; she had worn it the first time he'd seen her. Thinking about the memory, it didn't seem like it was in the shape of the rune, but it could have been, considering the distance between them both.

Then there was the other meaning.

That _she_ was the rune.

But he couldn't have meant _that_. Looking through all the books it didn't seem as if a human was an answer to the riddles. Nothing pointed towards that. And Leader had said it was in...solid form. But a human _was_ solid form. And they _were_ riddles. The whole point was that you had to figure out what they were talking about because they had hidden meanings. Several lines could have meant a human...Bokun had been certain the rune was in the mansion...he had even stated himself that she was something to do with the rune. Now that he considered it, a lot of things made sense when saying Angel was the rune.

But she couldn't be.

Could she?

Glancing over at her, he took a deep breath and let it go, concentrating on the path ahead. He wanted Angel to live, so he'd help out. He could ask about what the hell he had been talking about later. He just had to hope she'd be alive at that point.

As the hideout materialized on the horizon, Deidara sped up instantly, bursting through the doors, but at the same time doing so carefully so as not to hurt Angel. Hearing the noise, Kisame leaned out of the corridor, seeing Deidara blood-drenched and with an unconscious bleeding girl in his arms. Narrowing his eyes in surprise and concern, he called Itachi and they both came into the corridor as Deidara sped past them and down the corridor, Hidan and Kakuzu joining them at the door. Turning to Sasori who followed on behind, they quickly went to ask him what was going on, only to be ignored a second time as Sasori headed on after Deidara.

Now everyone was heading to see what was going on. As Deidara arrived at his room, Leader appeared out of nowhere and stepped forward, asking him what the hell he was doing with a girl in his arms, considering he had asked them to collect a rune and not a person. Deidara didn't bother to respond, Leader just wasting his time, and blurting out as an excuse,

"I don't have time to explain," he rushed into the room and placed her on the bed.

The moment Sasori arrived Leader turned to him for an explanation, not looking happy with Deidara's dismissive attitude, and as such stopped him from entering, not allowing anyone to move before he heard what was going on.

"I think you can understand what I want, Sasori. I never mentioned other humans in the bargain." He said by way of greeting, and without even noticing, Sasori acted in the same way Deidara had been, and responded,

"She's important to the mission, Leader-sama. I know it sounds strange, but Deidara has reason to be concerned. We need her."

Narrowing his eyes at his statement, Leader thought it all over, not gathering how they could need her, and if they did, how Deidara and Sasori had come across her on a mission that had nothing to do with things like this, but if Sasori thought it necessary, then she had to be important. So nodded simply, he said determinedly.

"Alright then. If she's important to us alive, then lets help her stay that way."


	22. Chapter 22

Sasori was then allowed to join Deidara, and any members that could help did so, Kakuzu being the main one to sew up her wounds. The others found any medical stuff—mostly bandages—that they could find in the hideout to give to her. It seemed strange that even though no one—maybe not even Sasori—knew her well, if at all, and yet they were doing all they could to help her. To save her life. Even Hidan could help. He knew injuries better than anyone, and could easily tell what kind of things would be needed. Deidara, in any other situation, would have brushed these things off, but now he was thanking every single one of them, even Itachi. He would hug—possibly even kiss—Itachi if it meant Angel would remain alive. He had done so little to help her before compared to what she had done, and now he was determined to repay the favour.

In some ways, focusing on healing her stopped feelings and thoughts of guilt into his head, yet at the same time brought it back so strongly while looking down on her unconscious body. He was working so hard he didn't have time for trivial things; but knowing that she had allowed him and Sasori to leave earlier to keep them alive, even with what she knew would happen, and he had just let it be, though comprehending the suspicions involved. She had been the sacrifice for them being okay.

But Deidara was not about to accept that fact.

And—fortunately—luck was on his side that day.

Hours passed after her arrival, and though there were times were her pulse slowed; where Deidara thought she was gone from his life, it came back and continued on. Sometimes it felt, when he laid a hand on her, looked at her face at times when her pulse slowed, something seemed to happen. It all slowed down; the only thing he could hear was his breathing and his heart pounding in his ears. But then came a beat that intertwined with his, and through the physical contact passed his will for her to live straight into her. And so her pulse came back, almost like she was fighting herself, a deeper sign in her subconscious that there was something unfinished in her life, or just the idea it was not her time; she wasn't ready yet.

And as the late hours of night grew into the early hours of the morning, the sun edging into the sky with golden, pink and orange waves that extended for miles, acting like a beacon of hope. She became stable; the medication they had, they gave it to her, she wasn't bleeding anymore and her breathing was steady. She was gonna be okay. Deidara, exhausted emotionally and physically, grabbed a chair and sat down next to her, putting his head in his hands. Sighing numerous times, he surprised a few as a few minutes later a laugh broke out of him. He had such a huge sense of relief that it was over; he'd been so pissed off with his dreams as he looked after her, with all of them coming true, and now all that filled his mind and his body was that feeling of the last dream. That it was all over and it was all okay. He had nothing to be afraid of, and everything to look forward to. Everything was fine.

But it wasn't over yet. Leader now came into the room, everyone following and looking over at him; even Sasori. Deidara hadn't explained anything to him, even back in the town. So now he had a lot of explaining to do, everyone expecting him to have made up the crap about her being to do with the riddles and the rune just to make sure she was okay. But even if he had, he wasn't going to let them take her away from him. He'd almost had that experience _twice_ already. A third time would have broken him. So as Leader bluntly asked what the hell he had been talking about, Deidara began,

"Well, in basic terms, Leader-danna...she _is_ the rune."

"Deidara, even _I_ don't get that, and I've been on this mission with you. What do you mean?"

"The picture of the rune, Sasori-danna. It's tattooed on the top of her back; but if she's lived here for most of her life, where could she have got it done, un? There's no places in the area. Not to mention it can't be coincidence. She didn't even know about it, un," He responded quickly, then adding,

"And that riddle. 'Although unbreakable, it's more fragile than it seems, un, it doesn't make any sense. A solid object as in a stone can't be both. Plus 'its own beliefs and dreams'? A stone can't have that. A person can, un. And then the last two lines; 'the scars and wounds will always be felt, but to be strong, it will need to turn its healing unto itself', un. All things that don't add up to it being a stone."

"I wasn't sure about this at first, Leader-sama...but it might be right. They _are_ riddles; and although you said it would be like a gem or stone, a human is solid. And if the idea of a human is placed with the riddles...a lot of them make sense." Sasori suddenly cut in, Leader's eyes darting over, narrowing his eyes in slight confusion. He had never considered this possibility, but both of them were pretty much certain. Even Sasori, who hadn't known the full details. The girl had the tattoo. Came from the area it was in. In a house that had all the information on it. It was plausible...

"I don't think Bokun had figured that out, though; all he knew that she was something to do with it. Maybe he thought she knew where it was. That her family had had it and it was now in her possession. If he wanted something like a rune with untold power, he wouldn't have kept a young child with him and looked after her as she grew up if he didn't want something from it." Sasori added, Deidara nodded and continuing on from this,

"But she didn't either; but it could be that it wasn't the rune itself that was being passed down to her from older generations, un. Maybe it was knowledge of the rune; that someday there would be a child that would have its powers, that was what Bokun was looking for. But with the way he treated her, it wouldn't surprise me if Bokun had killed them before that knowledge was passed on. Before she was able to know about and accept her powers. I told you about some of them; I don't doubt she has so many more. She _is_ the rune, Leader. And that's why I—_we_—can't let her go."

Smirking yet sighing at the same time, Leader didn't look away from Deidara's gaze as he thought about it. Whatever he chose, Deidara would influence it. If he said that they couldn't accept a person, it hadn't been in his plan, Deidara would go berserk. With the connection he had seen, it would be impossible to part them. Not that he wanted to; with a person it would be easier to train, to shape the powers for use with every member of the Akatsuki. With Deidara there she would be more willing to learn in order to stay with him and therefore try harder. It wasn't like they didn't have the space. And eventually, he nodded, Deidara visibly relaxing at this fact.

"I can't let her go; I told you to get the rune for its power, and though it is a woman, she still has that power. I won't let the opportunity for that kind of ability to slip past because she's a person, not a stone. But she'll have to be trained in it, you do realise. If she doesn't truly know about _all_ of her heritage, then we need to fill her in and get her started on using her power. And I can't exactly get on at you for it anyway, Deidara-san. You _did_ complete the mission after all."

Grinning at his words, Deidara thanked him and pulled his chair closer to the bed, sitting by her and absentmindedly stroked her arm as he thought about stuff and when she was going to wake up. Leader rose an eyebrow at what he was doing, but let it be, turning slightly and saying softly, though in earshot of every Akatsuki,

"Though somehow I don't think that was your first priority."

Laughing out loud at Leader's comment, everyone slowly filed away, Sasori lingering in the doorway the longest, glancing back and forth from Deidara to Angel with a smirk, allowing himself one little bit—okay, _quite_ a bit—of relief at her remaining alive, but then shaking it off, falling back into his normal expression and pausing only once more, continued on. Now Deidara was left completely alone with her, and moved in ever closer, holding her hand and stroking it with a smile. He wanted to stay awake to make sure she was okay; but something inside of him told him that even if he slept his subconscious would tell him if something was wrong. So he laid his head onto her shoulder, and slowly drifted off to sleep beside her.

Her calm heartbeat was his lullaby.


	23. Chapter 23

By the time Deidara woke up, it was bright sunshine and blue skies outside. Frowning in confusion, wondering why he had barely slept, he yawned and sat up stretching slightly and looking down at Angel's body with a happy yet still worried smile. She was stable; now all he had to do was wait until she woke up. Which, hopefully, would be soon. He didn't want Leader to get annoyed at him sitting around all day with her instead of doing missions. The longer she stayed asleep, the bigger the chance of Leader turning round and telling him to do missions again, leaving Angel alone behind him. He was the one that needed to be with her; the only one who could explain what had gone on when she did wake up. He would be staying with her until she was back to normal.

Even Leader wouldn't change that fact.

But, although pausing and debating for several minutes whether or not to leave her, just for a second, Deidara took a deep breath and left the room, looking back to check on her every time he took a step, leaving the door half open so anyone could hear or see if something was happening. And with a niggling sensation in the back of his mind that what he was doing was wrong, he padded forth, at first slowly, but then speeded up, realising if he got back quicker the time space between them being apart would shrink considerably.

"Hey, Deidara, how's your girlfriend doing?" Kisame instantly spoke up as he entered the room, grabbing cereal and milk rapidly. Realising that he'd slept right through yesterday, Deidara glared over at Kisame, but didn't get properly angry with all that was going on with Angel, instead just shot back,

"She's fine, un. And she's _not_ my girlfriend."

Trying to ignore the fact that his voice had got a little wishful with the words at the end of his sentence, Deidara sat down and shovelled the food into his mouth, almost using his hand in the form of a spoon, wanting to get back to her. Kisame, raising an eyebrow in slight confusion, but still grinning as he said it, responded,

"Wait, you haven't asked her out yet?"

But before Deidara could respond to that, his mind turning over ideas so quickly as he thought of whether to say he wouldn't be going to or that he just hadn't managed to ask her out yet—insisting that it was all that had been going on and _not_ his lack of courage in the slightest. Though Sasori took the initiative and shook his head, rolling his eyes to interrupt with irritation,

"Oh please. He can't say anything that involves their relationship being close without going all sheepish and quiet and blushing."

"Danna, un! That's not true!" Deidara spat back, slamming his hands onto the table and standing slightly with emphasis, gritting his teeth in the hope that that the same blush wouldn't appear now at the mention of them going out. She wouldn't be thinking of it, she'd almost been killed. He couldn't be thinking about it either...

Though that didn't necessarily mean he didn't.

"Sure, Deidara. Sure. Don't you have somewhere to be now, anyway?" Sasori dismissed, gesturing half-heartedly over at him as a way of brushing him off, Kisame grinning and laughing as Deidara's eyes instantly widened as he breathed,

"Shit, un!"

Before shoving the last few spoonfuls into his mouth, piling all the stuff up in his arms and dunking it in the sink, instantly turning around and sprinting for the door, Sasori's words instantly forgotten and getting back to Angel being the first priority. As he rushed to get to his room, Hidan appeared in the doorway, and Deidara didn't stop, crashing past him and continuing onwards, blurted behind him,

"Sh—shorry, Heedan, uhn!" Every word being muffled slightly from all the food in his mouth.

The sentence was what ultimately stopped Hidan from saying anything in return, but to just continue on with a what-the-fuck? Look on his face. Sasori sat sighing at his behaviour, with Kisame sitting nearby laughing his head off with his reaction to his words. When Angel was mentioned, all other thoughts were blanked from his head, and she was all that mattered. And furiously trying to swallow all the shit in his mouth down, wincing in discomfort as he did so, he rushed into the room, only when seeing her still lying there calmly that he managed to allow himself to relax. Though when he looked up a second later, getting his breath back from the simultaneous running and digesting, to see Angel moving slightly and scrunching up her eyes, he froze. He couldn't help but wait just a few seconds longer just to check he wasn't hallucinating.

But when she continued moving slowly, Deidara lunged forward and ran to his chair on the other side of the bed, pulling it up extremely close to her bedside and gently lifting her hand and enclosing it in his as she finally began moving fully, and flickered her eyelids before opening them fully. Giving her a little time to get over the change in light intensity, he eventually leaned over the side of the bed and called out softly,

"Hey, you okay?"

"D—Dei-kun?" She whispered back, a small smile fluttering onto her face. Swallowing to get rid of the dryness in her throat, she shifted to sit up slightly, before the smiled faded and she said with a frown,

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything. And I'm sorry for getting you into trouble, Dei-kun."

"Angel-kun, it's not your fault. For any of that stuff, un. It's Bokun's, and don't think it's anybody else's. I should have been there earlier, that's all, un. And I'm sorry for that." He responded, looking down at the bed as he did so. Angel quickly put that theory down, only halting as she suddenly realised her surroundings, and turning her head fully to look over everything, she said simply,

"We're not at the mansion."

"No. We're at the hideout, un. I had to take you somewhere where there were people who could help you. And this was the only place, un." He explained, still stroking her hand gently, a huge grin plastered across his face at the fact she was alright.

"We must be 45 miles from the mansion. Near Koji, the city." She stated absentmindedly a second later, making Deidara smile even more. She didn't even notice how she exactly pinpointed the location of the hideout without even trying. But then something occurred to her, something which Deidara had been expecting, as she whispered, biting her lip,

"But...Bokun...is he...?"

Wanting to tell her that he was, but not being able to lie to her as he stared into her amazing eyes, he shook his head, replying,

"No. I set off a bomb, but when the smoke cleared there was no body. But he's disappeared, Angel-kun, un. I swear, un."

Instantly becoming fidgety, she moved and stated so many suggestions about what they could do, where to track him down to, and what to do to make sure he was dead. But Deidara wouldn't let her finish, and calming her down, soothed her into the truth; she was with the Akatsuki now, and no one would be hurting her. There was only one catch in the whole idea of being with the Akatsuki:

"Uh...Angel-kun, we want you to stay so we can use your powers, un."

"What? My—my powers? What do you mean? I know I have some strange stuff that I didn't say because of Bokun, but..." Angel responded, not understanding it in the slightest, and it was all Deidara could do to sigh.

He had a_ lot_ of explaining to do.


	24. Chapter 24

Angel had always known there had been something different about her.

Even without Bokun pushing this idea on her, she knew that something wasn't the same as everyone else. Her wings were one of the first things that came to mind. Then as Bokun went on to constantly ask questions about her powers and what exactly she could do; what her parents had said to her before they died, Angel began to think that what it was about her that was different wasn't necessarily a good thing. So when her abilities started showing up, like her telepathy; her telekinesis, she knew straight away to keep them hidden. Even though she hadn't a clue what was going on around her.

So now that Deidara was saying all this...it wasn't as shocking as she had thought it would be to her; maybe not even how Deidara had thought she would react. Because, when it came down to it, everything _did_ seem to make sense. There had been so many blank spaces in her life; so many unanswered questions, that now that he was giving her this information, it all fitted in. It explained everything. How her powers had come about, the reason for her parents mysterious murder, the tattoo, her wings...everything. Because of this, she couldn't help but suddenly gather him in a hug, having never felt as grateful towards anyone in her life as she did now. He had released her from her cage, and given her the information to piece her life together.

"But...you don't seem that surprised, un." Deidara blurted as she finally pulled away.

"I know, but...everything fits in with all the strange things that have occurred in my life, you know? All my life there were things I could never understand...and they were all centred around me. But now I understand myself, I feel so much freer. And, well...it's all thanks to you." She replied in thanks, smiling back at him.

Blushing at her words, Deidara just shrugged off her thank you and stated he had merely done what was right; Bokun keeping her in like that was no way to live. Especially not with her powers and her personality. With it being her turn to blush, she looked into his eyes and grinned, the feeling of happiness that had spread over her body not leaving in the slightest. Gently slipping her hand in his, he squeezed it softly and return her grin, laughing together as a sudden cry of 'Hidan!' echoed throughout the building. Glancing to the door and then back to each other, she asked with a deep breath,

"So, what is it that you want me to do?"

"I think I'll take the responsibility of telling you that," An abrupt voice sounded from the door, and looking over, they both saw Leader standing in the doorway, and widening her eyes in surprise at his appearance, she bowed her head in respect as Deidara inclined his own. It was only when Leader noticed that she showed no signs of looking up from her bowed position, he greeted,

"You don't need to bow that deeply, Angel-chan. I will not rule you in the same way Bokun did."

Now finding the courage to look up, she blushed at how she appeared to him, and not quite sure whether to meet his gaze or not, she said softly,

"Sorry, Leader-danna."

Brushing off the apology for the moment, Leader stepped forward to the bed, glancing over at Deidara who had taken her hand in his once again protectively, knowing he wouldn't let anything to happen to her. Leader had to smother the urge to smirk at this image, but, standing by the side of the bed, he crossed his arms and looked down at her, commenting,

"It's good to see you are feeling better, Angel-chan. I assume that Deidara has explained we want you to stay because of what you can do, and about the nature of your abilities. The rune on your back."

Nodding in agreement with this fact, Leader returned it and went on,

"Good. I know you do not know the entirety of your powers; or have even trained them, for that matter. But we can help you with that. Help you in terms of gaining control over all of them. With the likes of Kisame, Itachi, even Deidara himself...you can learn through all of the elements. I have no doubt you will train well with them, and therefore learn well."

Glancing over at Deidara, he then added,

"And with your easy-going personality...I know you'll fit in with them all."

With this comment, Leader saw the reaction he had been expecting. Deidara instantly became fidgety and uncomfortable, and glared down at the floor, his grip on Angel's hand becoming ever so slightly tighter, like he didn't want to let go. And wondering how long it would be before Deidara would finally build up enough courage to tell her how he felt, Leader dismissed himself, saying as soon as she felt she was well enough, she would begin training. Who would be training her first was another matter, but they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. Training wasn't timed; the more relaxed the atmosphere, the better she would train. Not that it would take her long to master her abilities. Though she was innocent, Leader was beginning to think that a part of it came from being with Bokun; that her real personality would be fully coming out the more friendly she became with the Akatsuki.

But Angel knew she was ready for this. She felt absolutely fine; and though she knew she would have to take it slow, she would ask to start the training tomorrow. Deidara would be a little annoyed, true, but she was sure that if she calmed him down enough to tell him she was truly okay to start training, he would be okay with it. She couldn't help but feel excited with it, anyway. Things were starting to stabilise in her life for the good, and now she could sort everything out. Working with the Akatsuki sounded like fun, and anything was alright if Dei was there. It had always seemed that way, the moment she had met him. Looking over at him he smiled absentmindedly back, oblivious to the thoughts that maybe he should go first in terms of training her and drag it out, or just keeping checking up on her when she trained with anybody else. She wouldn't mind; she knew he cared for her, and he just...you know, wanted to make sure she was okay. But then another idea popped up into his head, and the memory of finding out her name came back to him.

That, at least, was something he couldn't wait to see.

Tilting her head to wonder what was running through his mind as their eyes met, unable to stop another, albeit tender, smile from fluttering onto her face as she looked at him, Deidara shaking her out of her excitement as he called her name softly, seeing a cheeky grin flash up onto his face. Quite nervous as to what he was planning to do with her, she listened tentatively as he continued,

"You must be really looking forward to it, right?"

Not understanding where he was going with this, she nodded slowly, looking with suspicion into his eyes, thinking over all the possibilities as to what that comment could be insinuating, but coming up with nothing, she asked cautiously,

"Looking forward to what?"

Raising an eyebrow in confusion as to why she hadn't thought about it at all, Deidara smiled again, answering,

"You know, being able to fly properly again."

Remembering her wings suddenly, she bit her lip in nervousness and embarrassment at what she was about to tell him, but taking a deep breath to prepare herself, she whispered in return,

"Well, um...I—I don't actually _know_ how to fly properly."


	25. Chapter 25

"What? How can you _not_ know how to fly? I don't mean to sound rude here, Angel, kun, but...isn't it kind of natural for you, un?" Deidara burst out in return, shaking his head in disbelief. He knew she never mentioned or used her abilities around Bokun because he didn't know and if he did then he would have done something about it—something bad—but he had thought that if she showed Bokun something, or at least knew that he wouldn't get on at her for...was her wings.

But now that she had said that, he was beginning to think the extent of Bokun's hold was more than he had first thought, and still blinking in surprise he added,

"But you flew when I first saw you in the hallway."

Knowing that this was going to happen the moment she said it, Angel looked away, closing her eyes tightly to shut his disbelieving face out, hoping he wasn't thinking she was pathetic and completely stupid for not knowing how to use the wings she had had all her life, she sighed and opened them again a second later, replying,

"Well, yeah...but that was up for a few seconds onto the higher banister. It wasn't a full on flying over lakes or over long periods of time. I've only flown a little bit; like around the mansion. I know the mansion is huge, but I never really got a chance to use my wings anywhere else. Bokun didn't want anyone else to see them."

Now Deidara's face fell, and his worries were proved right. Not only had he pretty much been forcefully keeping her there, hitting her when things didn't go his way, but he'd been mentally abusing her for the same amount of time. So now not only was she really scared that he'd come back to hurt them all, but she was going to be so much more cautious—maybe even hesitant—at flying again than she should have been. And never wanting Angel to feel like she had to keep anything from him, he moved even closer, pulling up his chair right next to the bed, and took her other hand in his, giving Angel no choice but to look at him, her eyes creased with worry and doubt aimed towards herself. So smiling softly back at her, Deidara responded,

"You don't need to hide them anymore, Angel-kun, un. Like Leader-danna said, he's not going to rule over you like Bokun did. So you don't need to be ashamed of them. They're beautiful. They—"

Stopping himself from saying anymore, he looked down, blushing as he realised what he was about to divulge, but knew he would _have_ to say something as Angel asked what was wrong with his sudden ending. With her being as worried as she was, he didn't want to make it any worse, and sighing, looked up, the blush never fading, a pure sheepish look plastered across his face as he went on quietly,

"Well...I mean...your wings, un. I always thought you got your nickname...because you know, you look an angel when you have your wings unfolded. Just...really beautiful, un."

"Okay." She instantly replied, her face utterly red as she said it, but pressed on even as Deidara looked back at questioned with a look of utter shock,

"What?"

"I'll try. If you believe I can do it." She stated timidly, but grinned back at him as he comforted,

"No. I _know_ you can do it."

Smiling at each other, they both opted to go and get something to eat, and though Deidara was asking constantly if she was okay, she convinced him she was okay and he didn't have to carry her, and continued on into the kitchen. Laughing out loud at the appearance of pretty much everyone in there, Angel waved a greeting and said hi, as Deidara led her forward, allowing them all to introduce themselves to her. Kisame said he—along with Itachi and Sasori—had gone back and got her clothes, so she'd be able to change out of the baggy stuff—which actually belonged to Itachi—off and back into her normal clothes. Thanking him and the others, both she and Deidara sat down and ate, talking as they went.

And of course, naturally, their talk turned to her training, and Kisame offered to train her first, and start today instead of tomorrow. As Angel remained adamant that she was fine, Kisame shrugged, agreed to it, though turned to Deidara to see if he was okay, and asked if he was a little too worried about her to let her start training right now. Deidara was trying to accept the fact he was going to have to let her train with them all, and out of everyone there, he didn't mind Kisame going first. So inwardly sighing, he shook his head with a grin, looking over at Angel to reply,

"No. I trust her if she says she's fine. And if she's not, un, then it's her own fault, un."

Glaring at him and throwing him a light punch, he laughed and let it be, watching as a few minutes later she finished eating and left with Kisame to the outside, tapping his fingers on the table as he did so. He'd be letting her train with the others, yes, but...he wouldn't be able to _fully_ let her go yet. But Angel was concentrating on the training ahead of her. Her excitement was pouring through every fibre in her body, and adrenalin was pumping through her veins. She couldn't wait to get started; something which Kisame could tell as he stopped in a clearing and faced her. Though they didn't have a training program, they both figured they should start with the basics, and their training began.

Angel found it tiring and hard, but it was more than rewarding enough. She'd train on one aspect of something, using simple water techniques, only to find as she finished attacking with one another ability would leap out of her. It wasn't just Kisame who was astonished by her powers. He was already surprised enough at how quickly she was catching on. Sure, she wouldn't be finished in one day, but she was still progressing enough for her training with him only needing to last a couple of days. No doubt when she moved onto one of the others she would follow in much the same way. When Leader had said she would excel at whatever training she was given, he had nodded, but figured her to take a while to get to know her powers, but then once she was in control of a certain aspect of it, she would become like Itachi, and turn into a genius.

In some parts of her abilities, she still was like that; not understanding how to use or control them. These were the ones they'd be working on the most, but overall, she'd made a huge leap in progress. By now it was sunset, and Angel wasn't the only one out of breath at the end of the training session. Sliding to a halt, he decided himself that it was time to stop for the night, and coming to offer her a hand, he made sure to check her over, just in case any of her injuries had become worse through the training. Luckily, none of them had, so she just stood and thanked him for training her, asking if it would be okay to do the same tomorrow. Kisame grinned and laughed, shaking off the politeness of her request and replied,

"Yeah. You don't need to ask. You'll be finished with me in a couple of days anyway, and you'll be up and flying in no time!"

Kisame flashed one last grin at her before continuing on into the hideout, leaving Angel behind to pick up her weapons. But now she couldn't bring herself to do so. What Kisame had said had only brought about memories of her conversation with Deidara about her wings, and now she realised that everyone wanted her to learn how to fly again. Closing her eyes in irritation, she looked to the skies, knowing they'd keep mentioning it, expecting her to one day open her wings and fly around to show them. But something was holding her back. She knew what it was, but she just didn't want to think about it. It would stop her from sleeping. Stop her from truly getting on with her life.

Because if she learnt how to fly again, Bokun would come back.


	26. Chapter 26

Angel should have known something would happen sooner or later. But the fact it had happened as soon as this was something that she _hadn't_ been expecting. She should have been on her guard twenty-four seven, always looking out for the others and checking up on strange circumstances. Honing her senses so she would notice anything different. Only she hadn't. Even if she had, it probably wouldn't have made a difference. It had happened. And there was no way she could change it.

It had been quiet. Too quiet, as cliché as it sounds.

But Angel knew something was wrong the instant she arrived at the hideout. The lights were all off, and even though that wasn't enough alone to suspect there was something wrong, she could just tell things were a little off somehow. The silence enveloped the building and the surrounding area like a blanket, and nothing seemed to be making a sound. No wind, no bird calls...nothing. There wasn't a whisper to suggest there was anything alive in the area. Angel just had to hope there was something—or some_one_—at least. Her heartbeat was pumping at an alarming rate in her chest, slamming against her ribcage so hard it hurt, and the sound of her heavy and almost panicked breathing filled her mind, not helping her nerves in the current situation.

She didn't know if anything actually _was_ wrong, but with the chance that there might be lingering in the air, it was causing a lump to rise in throat and a doubt that she would actually be able to fight back if one of them was hurt. If _Dei _was hurt. But forcing herself to move, even whispering it out loud to herself, Angel slowly and tentatively made her way over to the hideout door. Halting once again as her hand laid across the handle, she took several deep breaths, telling herself over and over again that she was overreacting; that when she went in they'd all be sitting there asking if she was okay, the reason for the lights being off revealed and her sanity returned to normal.

Repeating this idea, she grabbed it and slid the door open hesitantly, and only a little way. Though upon seeing the empty—but not blood-stained—room in front of her, Angel's legs almost gave way beneath her, and she leant into the wall to support herself. But, like always, the rational part of her mind spoke up, telling her that it was only one room in the hideout. There were still other rooms to look in. Not to mention there were things scattered on the table; the couch. Even _if_ things were fine, they had to have had some reason for leaving everything how it was. Like they had been in the middle of something when they left.

Gritting her teeth at that part of her brain, Angel sighed and gently pushed herself up off the wall, walking forward into the house, unsure whether to close the door or not. Eventually leaving it slightly open, she padded onwards, wanting to call out for them, but not wanting to break the silence. Not if it meant revealing something she didn't want to see. But still she felt herself continuing through the corridors. She looked in every room, knocking if it was someone's room, and although she was grateful the rooms weren't destroyed, her fear still did not fade; something might still be out there. And from how everything appeared in the hideout, it wasn't good.

Every door opened onto an empty room, and it didn't seem like anyone was there. Angel padded through the building one more time, just to check, when the thought that there was one more room popped up in her mind. The meeting room. Remembering this fact, she froze, torn between the two possibilities of that idea. On one hand, they could all be in there. The lights being off everywhere else would have been because of Kakuzu's incessant need to save electricity, the room didn't give out any sound, which would explain why she hadn't heard anything, and everyone had to go; so no one would be in their rooms or anywhere else but that room.

But on the other hand...there was the idea that something was wrong. That they were in there, and something was going on or they were gone completely. Angel didn't want to go and look. It would be better to wait and see, but it seemed like the rational part of her head was ruling today, and Angel couldn't do anything as she walked through the hallways, now with a purpose, and arrived at the room, beginning to go to the doors, her hands shaking as she slid her hands into the handles. Taking one last deep breath, she pulled the double doors open, her arms dropping to her sides as she did so. She wished she hadn't come to look; the first thing she saw was Deidara's body slumping to the floor, his eyes staring at her with a glassy look. The rest of them were similarly placed, blood everywhere, and their bodies drained of life. Unable to do a thing, Angel looked back up, staring into the eyes of Bokun, with them being the last thing she saw before falling to her knees, clutching her head and screaming.

Deidara had simply been feeling uncomfortable. He knew with everything that was going on with Angel, he should be taking more care of her. And now with the idea that learning these abilities; learning to fly might bring Bokun back, she was beginning to freak out at the possibility of them getting hurt. When Deidara saw how worried she got he felt so guilty for not being able to do more. So he found himself wandering through the corridors of the hideout, and soon looked up to see he was standing outside her door. They'd now moved her into the spare room, considering she and Deidara weren't _actually_ going out. He knew he shouldn't have been there; she was still recovering from her injuries, and on top of that, she had trained with Kisame today. Extensively. So going up to her and interrupting her sleep pattern wasn't something he particularly wanted.

But he had to make sure she was okay.

Slipping inside the room, closing the door without a sound, Deidara slowly walked over to her bedside, smiling lovingly down at her sleeping form. Sighing at knowing he wouldn't be able to leave her now that he was there, he pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down, afraid to even hold her hand in the same way he had done before, just in case she woke up. He was being stupid, he knew that, and he stood up to leave, shaking his head at the idea of coming there in the first place. But the moment he looked back at her in a way of saying goodbye he instantly sat down again. If he had to sleep there, he would. Having her there would help _him_ to sleep.

Though he woke up about an hour later, shaking off the lethargy from sleeping in a chair, looking over at Angel to see what was wrong. Her eyes fluttering underneath her eyelids, her face creased in pain and fear, and she began mumbling in her sleep, jerking her body as the nightmare became worse. Deidara was torn between wanting to wake her up to stop the nightmare, and not knowing how she would react to him waking her up from something that had to be pretty personal. But Angel decided for him as she suddenly sat bolt upright, her mouth opened and ready to scream. Deidara was next to her in an instant, the scream cut off within a second of it starting as he gently took her in his arms, holding her against him and rocking her slowly. It was all she could do to cling to him and try to stop the tears silently running down her face.

Stroking her face, wishing he had woken her up earlier, before she had to go through the nightmare, he whispered comforting words, looking down at her as she whispered,

"He's going to come for me, Dei...he's going to hurt you."

Shaking his head at the fear in her eyes, he pulled her even closer, softly pressing his lips up against her forehead for a second, pulling back to show a smile that fluttered onto his face for a couple of seconds, before disappearing again. Unable to understand his actions, Angel nestled herself into him, burying her head into his chest, the tears slowly stopping. Deidara shifted to allow this, and then began cradling her again, whispering in return,

"No, Angel-kun. He's not going to come. He's not going to hurt any of us, and certainly not you." Pausing, he continued rocking her, but his face now fell into a glare as he added darkly,

"_No_ _one_ is going to hurt you, un."

Especially not now he'd seen what an effect Bokun had had on her.


	27. Chapter 27

Angel had been standing on the roof for a while now, just debating with herself over everything and anything. She knew that if Deidara knew where she was right now, he'd be mad at her. Worried, yeah, but angry because of that. She at least knew he didn't want her to get hurt. But she had to. It was the only way he'd be proud of her. Otherwise she'd just be utterly useless, and everyone would agree with it. Why bother with someone who couldn't even use wings she'd had since birth? It wasn't as if it was a major part of Bokun's orders over her.

He had just seen her flying around the mansion—mostly up stairs—to make it quicker to get around, and told her—firmly—that she wasn't allowed to use them or open up in any area where she could be seen by other people. Which basically meant outside, considering there was a town nearby and several others after that. The only place she could was in the thick trees surrounding the mansion, but that was barely enough to fly for a couple of minutes. So Angel was pretty much stuck with flying down corridors, floating for a few minutes to stretch them, considering they were practically another set of limbs, and that was it. But now...it wasn't the fact she had scarcely used them that was stopping her from flying. It was the idea that she was slowly freeing herself from Bokun while he was still alive.

And that he could still come back.

If she was doing all this stuff with him still out there, if he came back—and Angel knew it was only an _if_—everything would be worse. He'd get to Deidara and the other Akatsuki in a way that might not have been so bad if she didn't break all the rules he'd set for her. She didn't want to be this way; she just didn't want Deidara to get hurt—or worse, _die_—from something that had been her fault all along. She'd rather have him be annoyed at her constantly than have him dead. So she'd just gone on, holding back the idea of flying, the only thing stopping her being her mind, and nothing else.

But Angel wanted to fly. They were all S-level ninjas, they could hold up against him. Not to mention Deidara's expression when he saw what she could do...but maybe it would be best if she kept it secret. She'd begun training with the others, learning control of her abilities, bringing out new ones...her wings weren't _crucial_ to this process...but the moment this little bit of hope popped up in her head she sighed and deflated. In a sense, they _were_ crucial. By learning how to fly again she'd finally be admitting that she was free. Not to the people around her, but to herself. And with the idea she was properly, fully free firmly planted in her mind, everything would then fall into place. Her abilities, her relationships with other people...

And Deidara.

The word 'relationship' always brought him to mind, and in so many different ways. But when it came down to it, the more he tried to become closer to Angel, to help her see she deserved better than Bokun's tyranny, the more she pulled away, and she was hating it. It was just like a reflex. A protective instinct. It wasn't anything to do with self-survival. She knew Deidara. Knew he would never do anything like that to her, and understanding that not everyone was like Bokun. It was what had kept her going, knowing that somewhere out there was someone who could actually treat her with kindness. And Angel had found him in the form of Deidara.

This is why it was affecting her so much; everything coming back to her as she blinked and looked around once more over the rooftop. She could see over the entire town, the place where she had lived for the majority of her life but never actually explored. It had started off as Bokun forcing her to stay around the mansion, and if she wanted to go outside she had to stay hidden in the forest. But soon it just became staying hidden in the forest when she went outside because no one would come near her anymore with what Bokun was doing to her. The mansion; the ominous feeling it gave her every time she thought about it...that was what was stopping her.

So if she came back to it, thought everything over...maybe, just maybe, she would find something inside of herself that would allow her to accept her own rules, her own _freedom_. Not Bokun's. A breeze blew up around her and she closed her eyes with it, unable to stop the thought of 'it would help with flying' fluttering into her head. But Angel couldn't; she'd been kidding herself when she came to the mansion. She'd been under Bokun's thumb for so long, and he was still alive out there, probably biding his time. As if she could ever accept freedom knowing he was still around.

"Angel-kun, you don't need to be afraid, un. I know you can fly. It's not a question of believing or anything, it's a fact: you _can_ fly. But...I can't do much more, Angel-kun, but encourage you, un. They're like another set of limbs, it's not natural to keep them hidden constantly. What's the point to them if they're not used? If you didn't use your arms, you wouldn't bother having them, but it's no different with your wings! They're _that_ important, un!"

Deidara sighed once again and turned to walk away, stating over his shoulder,

"But it's not up to me. I just...I just want you to feel free from Bokun, un."

Jolting out of her flashback, Angel shook her head to get rid of the memory, her shoulders sagging as she let out a huge sigh. She'd been so selfish. All this time. And never realised what Deidara had been doing for her. He'd tried to protect her from Bokun, come back for her when she had purposefully told them to leave, even though his mission said not to, and then taken her back to the hideout even with Leader there, risking his own job. He'd always made an effort to talk; to get to know her, and now he was training her and helping her become friends with the others. And yet she still didn't pay any attention to him, instead just brushing him off. She hadn't meant to; there was a lot changing in her life, but Angel was only beginning to realise the one thing that had kept constant;

The fact she loved Deidara.

He'd always believed in her; the flashback proved this. And flying—properly flying—was one thing he had never doubted for a second. Deidara had always believed she could be free from Bokun; and it had come true. With everything she felt for Deidara coming to the surface, she was starting to think that Deidara knew her—her mind, her body, everything—better than she did. The things he said that he believed she could do had happened, so maybe...

Flying was one of them.

She trusted him with everything she had; and he believed that she could fly utterly and completely with no room for hesitation. So why couldn't it be possible? When she had woken from her nightmare, he had been there; comforted her. And had promised nothing and no one would hurt her. Angel knew this was true, and understood that the others would protect her, in the same way she would protect them. They wanted her to stay with them, they were training her. And in that way they could work together to stop Bokun full stop. And she would always be free.

But she would have to take the first step.

Deidara knew that; Leader did, and now she was beginning to understand that. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as the breeze flew around her again, Angel felt her heart pump furiously in her chest, but knew she had to do it. So breathing out slowly, she took once last look around her, her wings unfolded...and then jumped. The feeling of falling overwhelmed her at first, and a slight fear built inside of her, but then, instinctively, her wings began to flap and soon her descent to the ground was halted, and Angel was flying over the ground, her wings fully outstretched as she soared.

As Angel did so a deep feeling awakened inside of her, like she done it a thousand times before, and she didn't know how she had managed to obey Bokun. The feeling of flying was better than she could ever have imagined. And remembering how Deidara had helped her do this, she turned and ascended a few metres, heading straight back to the hideout, excitement building in the pit of her stomach at the thought of them all seeing her flying. She needed to talk to Deidara; now she felt like she was her own person, being with him was all she could think about.

It was a good thing the journey would only take a few minutes thanks to her wings.

Deidara was slightly worried. He hadn't gone to see Angel all day because he wanted her to think about what he'd said. He hated pushing her this hard, but he didn't want her to feel trapped by Bokun anymore; not now they were working and living together. The smile he always saw her wear when they were talking in the mansion; he wanted to see it permanently; not just when she forgot about her situation. He loved her, and letting her go on without feeling herself wasn't something he was planning to do. Maybe if she felt free enough there was a chance she'd show some love in return...

"Hey, Deidara! Check it out, Angel's flying!"

Hidan's shout broke him out of his thoughts, and for a second he froze in shock, blinking to make sure he'd heard right, before he sprinted out of the door, along with the rest of them, to see if it was true. Coming outside, he jogged a few metres, before turning his eyes to the sky, searching for Angel. Spotting her almost immediately, he cried out her name and sprinted over to her as she flew, calling back, and began to land a little further on. Deidara didn't bother stopping where he was and catching up once she had landed, however, instead speeding up and standing, half-running beneath her. Grinning at his actions, Angel lowered herself gently, and then a couple of metres from the ground she fully re-sheathed her wings, causing her to drop gently into Deidara's arms.

Still grinning, she settled down into his arms as he held her as they stood there, watching as everyone filed up behind, raising eyebrows at her sudden change of mind to try and fly properly again. Deidara, on the other hand, wasn't bothered at all, and returned her smile in full, his expression never changing as they all spoke up,

"Angel, that...was unbelievable! You flew!" But all Angel did was smile sweetly back and shake her head, stating simply in return,

"No, it wasn't unbelievable. I had someone believe in me."

Looking over at Deidara, she smiled, more tenderly this time, before wrapping her arms around his neck in a gentle hug. Deidara held her closer in return, prompting Sasori to roll his eyes and turn to leave, stating an excuse as to why, and nodding at the others as they followed, Kisame mentioning the bet he'd now won as they ambled back into the hideout. Even as they left Angel didn't want to let go, but eventually realised she had to, and pulling away, she smiled once again at him as he softly placed her back down on the floor.

"Thank you, Dei-kun." She finally whispered, making Deidara frown in confusion and reply,

"What did I do, un? You're the one who was flying around!"

"But you made me realise that I could do it. That I could be free of Bokun and not have to worry whether or not he was around or if I was breaking any rules. I knew...that if you believed in me, it was possible. I trust you enough for that, Dei-kun."She simply breathed in return. Another smile alighting his face, Deidara abruptly pulled Angel close to him, slowly stroking her face as he did so. Shrugging off her compliments, he merely answered,

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't know you could do it, Angel-kun. You really did look like an angel, you know that, un?"

Grinning and blushing at the same time, Angel responded to his embrace by placing her own arms around his neck, and placing her forehead against his she whispered,

"I love you, Dei."

Laughing slightly, his happiness overflowing a little bit, he stared back into her eyes and replied,

"I love you too, un."

Before finally, after so long wanting to say something and wanting it to happen, Deidara leant forward and kissed her, both of them closing their eyes in happiness at how it had all turned out in the end. Angel was finally free of Bokun, and she was making a new life for herself in the Akatsuki. There was nothing more Bokun could do to her.

It had just taken Deidara's love to make her realise that.

And she wouldn't have had it any other way.


End file.
